By IANS
Jaipur : Members of parliament (MPs) from Rajasthan have decided to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh seeking a cut in marble imports as an increase in the import quota was affecting the marble industry of the state.
They will also raise the issue of getting their share of water from the Ravi and Beas rivers.
The MPs expressed their concern on these issues in a meeting in New Delhi on Friday. They expressed their discontent over increasing the marble import quota to 195,000 metric tonnes from the existing 130,000 metric tonnes.
“It was decided unanimously that if these issues are not properly looked into and resolved even after meeting union ministers and the prime minister, the MPs unitedly and firmly would raise the issues in the parliament,” a statement issued by the state government on Saturday said.
Rajasthan’s Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje had recently met Union Commerce Minister Kamal Nath in New Delhi registering her protest against the government’s decision to increase the marble import quota. Nath had assured here that the hike would be reviewed at the earliest.
The pending issue of the release of the remaining 0.60 million-acre-feet (maf) of water of Ravi-Beas by Punjab to Rajasthan will also be taken up. In the meeting, the MPs decided to submit a memorandum to the union water resources minister to settle the issue.
In an agreement signed among the governments of Rajasthan, Punjab and Haryana, Rajasthan’s share was fixed as 8.6 maf. At that point of time it was mentioned that since the canal system in Rajasthan was in its initial stage, 0.60 maf water could be made available to Punjab out of Rajasthan’s share until the time Rajasthan could utilise its share.
But now, when due to the development of the Indira Gandhi canal system, Rajasthan was in a position to utilise its entire share, the pending water was not being released, the MPs pointed out.