Indians stuck in Saudi Arabia due to lockdown ought to know these things before returning home

Bhopal, Mar 7: Independent MLA Surendra Singh Shera on Saturday said that he was not in any kind of captivity in Bengaluru and he will meet Chief Minister Kamal Nath soon.

"I was in Bengaluru for my daughter's medical treatment. I was not in any kind of captivity. I will meet CM Kamal Nath soon," Shera told reporters here upon returning to Bhopal from Bengaluru.

Earlier, Rajya Sabha MP and senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh alleged that the BJP had escorted four Madhya Pradesh MLAs, including three from his party, to Bengaluru.

"Last night, two charter planes were booked by BJP to take MLAs to Bengaluru. One was a 9-seater plane while the other was 12-seater. In the 12-seater plane, four MLAs were taken to Bengaluru. Out of them, three Congress MLAs Bisahulal Singh, Raghuraj Kansana and Hardeep Dang and one Independent MLA Surendra Singh Shera," Singh had said.

He has accused BJP of resorting to horse-trading in order to bring down the Kamal Nath government.

Mysuru, May 30: District in-charge Minister S T Somashekar on Saturday said that the Mysuru zoo is likely to reopen in June first week and all preparations are being made with precautionary measures.

While talking to media here, he said the initiative has taken considering the well being of animals and keeping in mind to support the tourism sector. "We have already collected the opinions of public representatives of the district. District administration is all prepared to reopen the zoo and waiting for permission from the forest minister and the government," he said.

He also said that he is not aware of the reopening the Mysuru palace for tourists. Chamundeswhari temple atop of Chamundi hils will be open based on the guidelines of the central government. The government taking measures to reopen tourist spots and central government will release the guidelines in the next two days, he added.

Bengaluru, Apr 28: Former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday demanded that the Karnataka government announce a "special package" for unorganised sector workers, street vendors and autorickshaw drivers, among others, all daily wagers whose lives are affected by the COVID-19 lockdown. "..a special package needs to be announced to this section of people, this is the demand," Siddaramaiah, who is also Leader of the Opposition in the state assembly, told reporters here.

Alleging that the government has failed to control the spread of coronavirus, he said it is the government's responsibility to take care of the basic needs of those from the unorganised sector, whose lives have been impacted by the lockdown. "It is the duty of the government and they should do it immediately. The package should also be announced. I will hold discussions with leaders of other opposition parties like JD(S), CPI, CPI(M) and BSP in this regard and also on trouble faced by farmers," he added. Alleging discrimination in supply of food packets and ration kits, Siddaramaiah said it was being supplied properly only in constituencies represented by BJP legislators.

"Politics is being played out in supply of food materials to the needy, keeping corporation elections in mind.... We don't want to do politics at this point in time as there is lockdown. If things continue to be the same after the lockdown ends, we will protest on the streets," he said.

Siddaramaiah on Tuesday interacted with representatives of auto rickshaw and cab drivers, street vendors, barbers, unorganised workers organisations, among others, to understand the difficulties faced by them during the lockdown and to know whether help from the government has reached them. He said most of them don't have work and it has become difficult for them to lead their normal lives.

They raised several issues like auto and cab drivers being unable to pay road tax and EMI, he said, adding that he would write a detailed letter to the Chief Minister in this regard The former Chief Minister pointed out that there is about 21 lakh registered organised workers, 1.32 crore lakh unorganised workers and also agriculture labourers in the state.

"Among organised workers only 12.5 of the 21 lakh are said to be getting Rs 2000, that too from the Employees Welfare Fund, while others could not get any money, citing reasons like they have not renewed it," he said.

On the other hand, unorganised sector workers don't get money and were also not getting proper food or ration kits, he alleged Though the labour department claimed that it was supplying one lakh food packets and 1.5 lakh ration kits, as also corporations, there were leakages and it was not reaching the beneficiaries properly, he said.