Bengaluru: Union minister for chemicals and fertilizers HN Ananth Kumar on Friday expressed displeasure that the state government was not allotting space for the Centre’s ambitious plan to set up generic medicine shops (Jan Aushadi) in Karnataka.
At a time when the land acquisition bill is raising political temperatures, with BJP and the Congress at loggerheads over the issue, Kumar’s statement has raised questions on the state government’s intent.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a meeting of BJP workers in the city, the minister said he approached health and family welfare minister UT Khader seeking allotment of land.
Kumar claimed that Khader kept delaying it, saying “Anna (big brother) will do it in a few days”. Kumar said it had been six months since the project was proposed for Karnataka.
Urea factory waits for land: Kumar was also unhappy that no land had been given for the proposed Rs 6,000-crore urea factory, and claimed that Karnataka would have been the seventh location to have this.
Similar instances: BJP national spokesperson GVL Narsimha Rao cited examples of the Kudgi and Nagarjuna power projects being delayed due to land acquisition problems over the last few years.
