K'taka: JD-S calls for nat consensus on issues

Bangalore, Jan 29: The Janata Dal (Secular) National Executive has unanimously resolved that unless there was a national consensus on important policies the dream and vision of making India a developed nation by 2020 cannot be realised.

A political resolution adopted at the meeting, in this regard, observed that the need of the hour was not confrontation but consens on issues such as economic, agricultural, rural and focus on economic growth. The sky-rocketing prices of essential commodities was breaking the back of both lower and middle classes. A non discriminatory and rational structure was the need of the hour and efforts should be made to promote indigenous and alternative fuels to meet increasing energy requirements, it said.

The resolution demanded that the centre headed by Manmohan Singh declare suicides by farmers as national disaster and on a war footing take up measures to improve the lot of hands that fed the nation. Both long term and short term measures such as farm income insurance, increase in minimum support price, elimination of middle men, low cost technology and loan waivers and expansion of irrigation facilities should be taken up immediately, it added.

Stressing for framing a policy to remove disparity in education , the meeting called for reservation for rural children in higher education to enable them to compete with elite policy.

The resolution also condemned the former Iraq President Saddam Hussein's execution and urged the United States and America and its allies to withdraw their troops from the Iraqi soil and show respect to the will of Iraqi people.

UNI