Rethink ban on gutka, Yeddyurappa tells centre

Mangalore, Aug 9 (UNI) Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa today urged the Centre to have a rethink on ban on gutka as it had deeply impacted the rates of arecanut adversely affecting thousands of farmer families in Karnataka.

Participating in the two-day International Conference on the 'Future of Arecanut', organised by Arecanut Research and Development Foundation (ARDF) here, he said that in the name of gutka, the growers were made to suffer.

He assured that he would discuss with parliament members of the State to 'fight the matter out' in the parliament.

"The union government should set up a Parliament committee to go into the issue. The centre should also need to rethink and should have open mind on the issue, which was not harmful to health," he said.

The Chief Minister said the State government was ready to extend necessary help to the arecanut growers within its scope. It had providing free power to the 17 lakh small and marginal farmer's, including arecanut growers.

He also called upon that the agricultural scientists to take up intensive research on alternative and mixed crop cultivation as the growers had been badly affected by pests that had affected arecanut crop.

UNI MA RS TS1850