Kumaraswamy meets Ministers in Delhi

New Delhi, May 24 (UNI) Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy today held a series of meetings with several Union Ministers to discuss the speeding up of pending projects with the Centre.

Mr Kumaraswamy, who met Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee, sought from him the landing facilities for the civilian aircraft at the sea-bird naval-site located near Karwar in Karnataka. This would provide an alternate and quick option to the people of the coastal region to reach Bangalore. He also wanted the Defence Minister to speed up the disbursement of compensation to the project affected people.

Mr Mukherjee gave a positive indication that the Chief Minister's request would be considered in the right spirit.

In the meeting with Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde, Mr Kumaraswamy sought his co-operation for expediting up the work on Nagarjuna and Tadadi Power Projects in the State.

The Chief Minister also solicited the support for the IT projects in the State from Communications and Information Technology Minister Dayanidhi Maran.

Mr Kumaraswamy invited Urban Development Minister S Jaipal Reddy to Bangalore in the first week of June to witness the signing of MOU between the State and the Central governments on the Bangalore Metro Rail Project.

He submitted a report given by eminent Kannada writers and scholars to the Union Minister for Tourism and Culture Ambika Soni seeking Classical Language Status for Kannada. The people of the State would appreciate the gesture if the Central government announcement came before November 1, 2006, the day scheduled for organising Golden Jubilee Year of the Formation of Karnataka.

Ms Soni assured the Chief Minister to consider the issue soon.

They also discussed future strategies to improve and promote Hampi as a World Heritage Site.

Mr Kumaraswamy is scheduled to meet Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission Dr Montek Singh Ahluwalia and Union Minister for Agriculture Sharad Pawar tomorrow.

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