T-model for Vidarbha being looked into: Mallikarjun

In an apparent refusal to commit whether the Centre would amend Article 371 to provide special status to Hyderabad-Karnataka region for removing regional imbalance, Union Minister for Labour and Employment, Mallikarjun Kharge said nothing could be confirmed about it now.

Speaking to newsmen during a personal visit here, Kharge said Ministers of the State and other like-minded people should get united to put this demand before the Centre.

The proposal had been before the Government for long but it was thinking whether the Telangana model should be adopted or Vidarbha model that could be applied to H-K region.

Referring to the proposal of Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa to take a delegation to Delhi on the issue, Kharge shot back as to why he did not do this during the National Democratic Alliance Government led by Bharatiya Janata Party.“The NDA Government always turned a deaf ear to such suggestions,” he remarked.

Earlier, he told newsmen that his ministry has directed Labour Ministers of all the States to ensure that the revised Labour Act was implemented properly.

The Labour Department has 27 laws framed, and the labour officials were expected to implement the norms strictly. He directed the Deputy Commissioners of the State to regularly review the progress of the Department.

To a question, he said his ministry was in the process of upgrading the employment exchanges of India for their effective functioning.

With regard to the proposal of the District Administration to continue the child labour schools despite their poor attendance, he promised to consider the proposal. He also promised to provide the facilities to strengthen the schools, if proposals were sent.