The State government on Tuesday stated that it will not withdraw the amendments brought to APMC act in May 2020. Replying in Legislative Council to a question posed by Congress member Nagaraj Yadav, Cooperation Minister S.T. Somashekar said: “We will not withdraw the amendments because nobody has come forward to complain about the amendments. There is no example of farmers demanding its withdrawal.” Earlier, Mr. Yadav asked why the State government had not yet withdrawn the amendment even after the Centre doing it so.
Mr. Somashekar said that while ₹25 crore had been collected as penalty in three years preceding 2020 from farmers for violating the APMC Act, the amendment abolishes penalty clauses on farmers for selling their produce outside the APMC limits.
Policy for KK region
The State Government will consider coming up with special industrial policy for Kalyana Karnataka region, Small Scale Industries and Municipal Administration Minister MTB (N.)
Nagaraj told the Legislative Council. Responding to BJP member Sashil Namoshi, the Minister said that the Karnataka Industrial Policy already offers sops for industrial development in the region that houses about 8,950 industries curently. Mr. Namoshi pointed out such special industrial policies in Vidharba, Kutch and Telengana among others who benefit from Article 371, and similar policy was necessary for Kalyana Karnataka that comes under Article 371 J.
Gold loan rates
There cannot be an uniform rate of interest on loans on jewellery across cooperative banks in the State, Cooperation Minister S.T. Somashekar informed Legislative Council.
His response came after Janata Dal (Secular) member Marithibbe Gowda pointed out that the gold loans in cooperative banks currently range from 10 % to 14 % compared to 7.5 % in scheduled banks. In response, the Minister said: “I had convened a meeting of all 21 DCC banks and I have asked them to reduce the rate of interest. However, we cannot impose conditions and compel them to have uniform rate in the State.”
