Ever since he landed a Cabinet berth as mines and geology minister, Vinay Kulkarni has been courting one controversy after the other. The trusted lieutenant of CM Siddaramaiah, who is Dharwad in-charge minister, has a hot potato on his hands with the adverse verdict of Mahadayi tribunal throwing life out of gear in the region.
This young Panchamsali Lingayat leader, whose political acumen has ensured him victory after victory in the polls, tried hard to prove how genuine he is during an interview with DC.
“Every week, I go to Karnataka Institute of Medical Sciences (in Hubballi) and spend several hours. We have instituted a computerised system, streamlined the administration,” claims Kulkarni. Excerpts from the interview.
To begin with, as per the amendment brought to the Mines and Minerals Act, you have to prepare and execute a Reclamation and Rehabilitation plan. For very long, nothing has moved on this front..
Our plan is ready, recently we submitted it to the Supreme Court.
But, experts say you are not serious about it.
We submitted it two months back. In a couple of weeks, the SC will hear it and then, we will implement it.
You are saying everything is going smoothly. Then, why is the C-category mine auction not happening?
The court put off the process by 20 days. In eight days, we will start the process.
Can we discuss the police excesses in Yamanur? Initially before the Karnataka bandh on July 30, you had instructed the police that they should not beat farmers. But after the Yamanur incident, you defended the police action.
I did not defend police beating up women. What happened there was different from what was told. Seven offices including a court was ransacked. The mob was so furious that when they attacked the court, the judge had to hide in the toilet. All files were burnt in seven government offices. Then miscreants tried to attack police and that’s when the cops retaliated. When Karnataka bandh was observed, channels telecast what had happened two days back.
Do you mean people from Yamanur were involved in ransacking offices?
Women were not involved. A gang of youngsters from that village was involved. To trace them, police went to the village and women stopped them.
What is the next course of action?
We are not opposed to a peaceful agitation. Our only objection is they should not resort to violence.
What about dropping cases filed against them..
We have constituted a panel to look into this. Even if we decide to drop the cases, the court has to give bail.
The other issue is finding a solution to the Kalasa Banduri agitation. When PM Narendra Modi offered a solution you did not act. Why?
In the meeting, the PM told us that we had to convince opposition leaders in Maharashtra and Goa. Only after that he would convene a meet of BJP leaders. This is not appropriate. We felt PM should convene a meeting of all CMs and at that time, we would appeal to our party leaders in those states to cooperate with Karnataka.
As district in-charge minister, you have the responsibility to find a solution to this problem. You should have told the CM to undertake a mission to convince Opposition leaders in Maharashtra and Goa. You did not do it.
Who said, we have not done this? We had spoken to Congress leaders in Goa. They told us the Goa CM should talk to them, then, they would speak on this issue.
But, a month-and-a-half ago, Goa passed a resolution saying its interests would not be compromised. In other words, Goa Congress leaders either lied to you or you did not hold talks with them.
When did they pass a resolution? We cannot find a solution criticising this party or that party. It should come through Prime Minister.
You are a proactive minister. But you have failed to contain sand prices which are hovering at Rs 60,000-90,000 a truck load.
It was the previous BJP government which had handed over the administration of sand mining to PWD department. Our government withdrew it. Now, we have decided to go for open auction where we will fix a rate, then businessmen will bid. In 3-4 months, prices will come down. Karnataka has an annual demand of 23 Million Metric Tonnes sand. Already, M-Sand is produced here to the extent of 14 MMT. In another 4 months, it will reach 18-20 MMT capacity.
The issue is illegal sand mining. During BJP rule, some ministers were involved in illegal iron ore mining. Now, the kith and kin of powerful ministers indulge in this.
When we simplify the system, everyone will adhere to rules. Earlier, the PWD department had identified 864 sand blocs in the state but auctioned only 219 blocs. The officers too were scared to auction sand anticipating legal hassles. Now, we have changed the rules. We will reserve blocs for the government and have decided to identify sand blocs for Ashraya houses. Once we auction blocs, illegal sand mining will come down. We will install CCTVs everywhere. In Davangere, we have launched SMS permit system on trial basis.
Finally, you have Vinay (meaning decency or humility) as your first name. But you abused a doctor in KIMS, Hubballi and now, your name is linked to the murder of a ZP member.
The ZP member’s murder case was politically motivated. There were 20 cases against him. He was a rowdy sheeter. It is a habit to link politicians to such murder cases. In Hubballi doctor’s case, I went there to plead on behalf of a patient. Was it wrong?
