Cong, JDS gear up for coordination panel meeting amid fears of operation Kamala

Bengaluru, Mar 5: Karnataka chief minister BS Yediyurappa on Wednesday admitted in the legislative assembly that corruption was deep-rooted in government offices and held transfer racket as the root cause of the graft menace.

“Unless we root it out from the system, we can never uphold the spirit of the Constitution and ensure equitable justice to people. If legislators lend support (to this cause), then we can weed out this menace,” Yediyurappa said during a special discussion on the Constitution.

Successive governments have been accused by opposition parties of running a transfer racket, but there’s very little done to institute a probe or order a crackdown following the allegations.

The chief minister’s candid admission came after senior Congress MLA HK Patil, quoting a report from Amnesty International, said 63% of people in Karnataka give bribe to get their work done in government offices. The CM said he agreed with the report in toto.

Bengaluru, July 17: The government of Karnataka has decided to issue caste and income certificates to Brahmins in the state to reduce the socio-economic inequality faced by the community.

“A notification has been issued to tehsildars in all 30 districts to issue caste and income certificates to Brahmins so that they can also benefit from the government schemes and scholarships,” a Revenue Department official told said.

The notification comes a month after the Karnataka State Brahmin Development Board on June 10 appealed to Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa to issue the certificates to the traditionally dominant community, which accounts for 3 per cent of the 7 crore state population.

“Though Brahmins are in ‘minority’ in terms of their population across the state, they need caste and income certificates to benefit from the welfare schemes meant for the economic weaker sections such as SC, ST and OBC groups,” the official said.

The board was set up in March 2019 as a state-run company with Rs 5 crore authorised capital and Rs 5 crore equity and is registered with the Registrar of Companies.

The notification was issued to the local bodies and taluk offices after several members of the community complained to state Revenue Minister R. Ashoka that they were unable to benefit from the welfare schemes in the absence of the certificates.

The certificates will also help students from the community to avail scholarships for higher studies from the state-funded board if their gross annual family income is less than Rs 8 lakh per year.

The board has also urged the state government to implement the 10 per cent quota for its community members under the economically weaker sections, as applicable for Central government jobs and admissions to central institutions.

Noting that every community has people who are forward and backward economically for various reasons, including historical, the official said the board would be empowered to serve the Brahmins.

“The board will provide interest-free loans to the financially weaker sections of the community,” said its Chairman H.S. Sachidananda Murthy.

Bengaluru, Mar 6: School children in Karnataka will have 'bag-free' days on two Saturdays in a month as part of efforts to create a joyful learning experience, Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa announced on Thursday. By making two Saturdays in a month as bag-free days, "Sambhrama Shanivara" will be observed with the objective of creating a joyful learning experience by reducing the burden of text books, he said, presenting the 2020-21 budget in the state assembly.

"The main purpose of such days is to create awareness, by means of activities, on topics that are necessary for students to be ideal citizens," he added.

He also said for the first time in the history of the state his government presented a "child budget", making it a special feature of the budget.

All the policies and programmes for the development of children below the age of 18 are consolidated and presented in this budget and as many as 279 programmes involving Rs.36,340crore, which is 15.28 per cent of the total volume of the Budget, have been earmarked.

English medium of instruction would be given along with Urdu in 400 government Urdu schools and Rs one crore will be provided during 2020-21 for this purpose, Mr Yediyurappa said.

For the education of children of auto drivers, up to Rs 2,000 would be provided annually to each family. For this purpose, Rs 40 crore will be provided in the coming fiscal, the Chief Minister added.