Shobha Karandlaje alleges scams in health dept, BBMP; demands CBI probe

News Network
October 5, 2017

Bengaluru, Oct 5: Taking on Chief Minister Siddaramaiah for his remark that his was ‘kam ki bath’ as against Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘man ki bath’, Bharatiya Janata Party State general secretary Shobha Karandlaje has alleged that it had become ‘loot ki bath’ in Congress-ruled Karnataka.

 At a press conference in Bengaluru on Wednesday, Shobha Karandlaje alleged that there were irregularities in implementation of various State and Central schemes. She charged the state government with violating rules while awarding contract for the Mathru Poorna scheme meant to meet the nutritional needs of pregnant and lactating women in rural areas.

“The contract has been given to Veda Pharma, which had quoted the highest bid. What is the secret behind this?” she asked. Besides, the state government has claimed the scheme as its own while it was totally sponsored by the Centre.

Shobha accused the Siddaramaiah government of calling for tender for Rs 460 crore for issuing universal health cards without following Karnataka Transparency in Public Procurement norms. “I am told Health Minister Ramesh Kumar is not aware of this contract as it is being directly handled by the chief minister. I wonder why Ramesh Kumar is silent on this issue,” she said.

She demanded that Siddaramaiah government furnish answers to the charges of corruption or order a CBI probe.

She charged that Rs 434 crore that the Centre had allotted for Karnataka AIDS Prevention Society was recalled by the Union government because of absence an action plan on the part of the state government.

The BJP leader charged that there has been misappropriation of funds in the setting up of Indira Canteens in Bengaluru. There has been misappropriation of Rs 20 lakh per canteen, she said.

There has been corruption in the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) too, she said The cost to remove garbage per ward is Rs 14 lakh whereas it is being cleared by paying Rs 1.04 crore per ward, she claimed.

“An amount of Rs 584 crore is being drawn for salary of 34,000 pourakarmikas whereas there are only 11,000 pourakarmikas in Bengaluru as per the report submitted Chairman of the State Safai Karmachari Commission. What is happening to the extra amount?” Shobha asked.

She claimed that mechanical sweepers had been purchased by the BBMP at a cost of Rs 45 crore recently, but these have going “missing.” A tender for Rs 604 crore has again been called for purchase of more such vehicles, she said.

Comments

Hari
 - 
Thursday, 5 Oct 2017

BJP wanted to rule and loot more so making false allegations

Kumar
 - 
Thursday, 5 Oct 2017

Sobakka, did you forget about yeddy's scams

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News Network
May 13,2020

Belagavi, 13: In a shocking development, Karnataka has reported its first COVID-19 relapse with a 50-year-old Tablighi Jamaat convention attendee in Belagavi testing positive days after being discharged.

The State health officials confirmed that P-298 from Kudachi, who had recovered and was discharged, has suffered a relapse. He has been re-admitted to a designated hospital in Belagavi.

The patient was initially admitted on April 15 and recovered, testing negative twice on April 30 and May 1. The tests were done at the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Bengaluru, and the National Institute of Traditional Medicine (NITM), Belagavi.

Despite recovering, his treatment continued in the ICU for other comorbidities, especially cardiac issues. He was discharged on May 4 and quarantined at an institutional facility in Kudachi.

However, he developed symptoms again and was tested for COVID-19 again on May 5 at NITM, Belagavi. The result came back positive. He was re-admitted to a hospital, and on May 6 a second test was done at the Belagavi Institute of Medical Sciences. Again, he tested positive.

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News Network
March 8,2020

Bengaluru, Mar 8: The economic slowdown in the country had a cascading effect on Karnataka, as its growth rate for outgoing fiscal 2019-20 is projected to be 6.8 per cent against 7.8 per cent in the last fiscal (2018-19), a senior official said on Saturday.

"The Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) is estimated to be 1 per cent less at 6.8 per cent for this fiscal from 7.8 per cent in the last fiscal due to slowdown in manufacturing (industry) and services sectors," an official of the state finance department told media.

Though the agriculture sector has revived from 1.6 per dent in the drought-hit last fiscal (2018-19) to register 3.9 per cent this fiscal, growth rates of industries and services will be 4.8 per cent and 7.9 per cent for 2019-20 against 5.6 per cent and 9.8 per cent respectively in 2018-19.

"The GSDP is projected to grow at 6.3 per cent in the ensuing fiscal of 2020-21 due to continued slowdown in the national economy," the official hinted.

According to the state's economic survey for 2019-20, the farm sector grew more than double to 3.9 per cent from 1.6 per cent a year ago due to increase in the production of foodgrains, dairy products and fish catch.

Foodgrain production across the state rose to 136 lakh tonnes from 128 lakh tonnes a year ago, the survey revealed.

"In line with the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate decline, Karnataka's GSDP has declined from a high of 13.3 per cent in 2016-17 to a low of 6.8 per cent in 2019-20.

"The GSDP has declined from a double-digit growth of 10.8 per cent in 2017-18 to 7.8 per cent in 2018-19 and 6.8 per cent in 2019-20," the survey pointed out.

The survey has adopted the all-India growth rate for the services sector growth in the state, which reflects the impact of slowdown in the key sector.

At current prices, the southern state's GSDP is expected to be Rs 16,99,115 crore (budget estimates) with a 10 per cent growth rate in the next fiscal (2020-21).

"Real estate, professional services and ownership of dwellings contributed 35.31 per cent to the GSDP in 2019-20, followed by manufacturing with 15.32 per cent, trade and repair services 9.51 per cent and crops 7.44 per cent," said the survey findings.

Per capital income in the state at current prices is estimated to be Rs 2,31,246 in 2019-20, an increase of 8.8 per cent from Rs 2,12,477 in 2018-19.

"The per capita income in the state is 58.4 per cent more than that of all-India rate at Rs 1,35,050 in this fiscal," the survey added.

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News Network
August 4,2020

Bengaluru, Aug 4: With preparations underway for conducting exams for the final semester/ year students in the state, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister Dr CN Ashwathnarayan on Monday directed the respective universities to conduct exams for the backlog papers as well.

"In the wake of COVID-19, it has been decided to hold exams only for the students of final semester/year courses. It has come to our notice that some universities have decided against conducting exams for final year students who have a backlog to clear from previous semesters. This is unpardonable," the Deputy Chief Minister said.

"Our intention is to see that the final year students finish their course. In the present situation, conducting only final semester exams won't help. We have to help the students in clearing their backlogs," added Ashwathnarayan, directing all universities to compulsorily conduct these exams.

Meanwhile, Ashwathnarayan thanked the staff and officials of various government departments who were responsible for successfully conducting the CET exams even amidst the difficult situation in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic.

"In all, 1,94,419 students had registered for the CET exams, of which 1,75,428 wrote the exams. The percentage of students who took up the exams this year was equivalent to that of the previous years, in normal times," the DCM informed.

"After we successfully conducted the exams, Arunachal Pradesh is going to conduct the Public Service Commission exams on the lines of how we successfully conducted the exams. Likewise, even our KPSC has said it will conduct the exams. We must appreciate the good work of the Karnataka Examination Authority (KEA), which has set an example for others," Ashwathnarayan said.

The deputy chief minister said that 33 colleges in various districts across the state faced shortage of land and that it is the responsibility of the District Commissioners (DCs) to get the lands sanctioned for all these colleges.
In Bagalkot district alone land has not been sanctioned for six degree colleges, he said.

Reacting to this, Bagalkot DC Captain Rajendra assured to look into the matter as soon as he receives the proposal from department officials.

"Similarly, there is shortage of land for five Diploma colleges and 28 ITI colleges in different parts of the state. The DCs must immediately pay attention to this. Once they get the land, buildings will come up within no time," the Karnataka deputy chief minister said.

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