Siddu writes to Sonia, Rahul defending his move to form separate ACB

March 23, 2016

Bengaluru, Mar 23: Under fire over forming a separate Anti-Corruption Bureau, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddarmaiah has written to his party top brass Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi defending the move, even as he rejected the Opposition demand for ACB withdrawal in the Assembly on Tuesday.

siddaSiddarmaiah has "assured" Congress President Sonia Gandhi that what has been done in Karnataka is in tune with the pattern prevailing in at least 12 other important states, officials in CM's office said.

"It is the endeavour of our Government to give more attention and focus to fighting corruption in the system. In view of that, ACB has been set up and I am confident that this will deliver better results than what is happening at present," a part of the letter shared with media read.

Siddaramaiah has also written similar letters to Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi, General Secretary Digvijay Singh, and Leader of the party in Lok Sabha Mallikarjuna Kharge.

In the Assembly, Siddaramaiah maintained that there was no "mala fide" intention to shield the corrupt or to weaken the Lokayukta through the constitution of ACB.

Replying after BJP and JDS called off their dharna in the well of the House demanding withdrawal of ACB, he said he was willing to discuss with the opposition ways to strengthen Lokayukta. Countering the BJP attack, Siddaramaiah said the police wing in the Lokayukta would also continue and a similar system prevailed in 15 states.

"There is no mala fide intention behind our decision. Nor are we trying to shield anyone," he said.

Refusing to step back, he said, "There is no question of withdrawing the ACB."

Leader of the Opposition Jagadish Shettar (BJP) said the ACB should be withdrawn "at any cost" and his party would take the fight to outside the House and announced withdrawal of their protest to facilitate smooth functioning to discuss other "burning" issues like drought situation in the state.

Opposition BJP and JD(S) have accused government of "destabilising" Karnataka Lokayukta by creating ACB, and have demanded its immediate withdrawal.

Meanwhile, BJP state President Prahlad Joshi has also written to Sonia Gandhi requesting her to advise the Karnataka government against creating ACB and instead make Lokayukta stronger.

Comments

IBRAHIM.HUSSAIN
 - 
Wednesday, 23 Mar 2016

Lokayukta is a one of the corrupt institution which cannot be denied as per the recent incidents ofJustice Bhasker Rao & son, and Justice Madi.
May be Siddaramayya wanted more transparency in administration and right to punish the government corrupt officials, the only way to appointing ACB department. Those talking about this move and agitating, Gujarat have the same ACB and lokayukta is toothless tiger in Gujarat.

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
August 7,2020

Bengaluru, Aug 7: Amid the rising number of COVID-19 cases in Karnataka, the state's health department issued fresh guidelines for the disposal of bodies of COVID patients.

"Although an increased risk of COVID infection from a dead body to health workers or family members who follow standard precautions while handling the body is unlikely, the lack of scientific data requires the utmost care to avoid the inadvertent spread of COVID-19 during these times," the statement from the health department's press release read, emphasising on the dignity of the dead and the religious and cultural tradition.

The 23-page press release elaborated on guidelines regarding testing, handling of dead bodies and other specificities in relation to the management of COVID-19 bodies.

"Testing should not be insisted in every case of death, but only when they have a recorded history of influenza-like symptoms. The body should be handed over to the family members/ relatives in a dignified manner immediately after swab collection and hospitals should provide handouts with a list of dos and don'ts in English and Kannada laying down relevant information," the statement said.

It added, "At the mortuary, health care workers, mortuary staff and the family of the deceased body shall not come in direct contact with the dead body and must wear full personal protective equipment (PPE). If the family or relative are for any reason unable to cremate or bury the body, the local health authority shall arrange for the dignified last rites as per the religious traditions of the family."

Regarding autopsies (post mortem) on COVID-19 bodies, the state department said that they should be avoided, except in necessary circumstances.

The statement also gave detailed guidelines regarding the appropriate recording of COVID-19 deaths in line with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) guidelines.

Additionally, the health department made a statement about the admission procedure for COVID positive patients referred by other district administrations saying, "It is now mandatory for all the referrals from the BBMP admission and discharge of COVID positive patients to be done through the online COVID Hospital Bed Management System (CHBMS)."

The state's count of coronavirus cases was 1,51,449 in the past 24 hours.

So far, a total of 2,804 people have died due to COVID-19 in the state, while the average recovery rate in Karnataka is 49.3 per cent.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
April 30,2020

Kasaragod, Apr 30: The Kasaragod District Collector Sajith Babu, his gun man and driver has entered in quarantine on Wednesday.

According to sources, the Collector had been asked to go on quarantine after the reports of a journalist, who interviewed him, was tested positive for the virus.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan at his routine evening press conference revealed the positivity of the journalist.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
coastaldigest.com news network
July 9,2020

Mangaluru, Jul 9: The coastal district of Dakshina Kannada today recorded death of two coronavirus patients.

Meanwhile, the district today also recorded 167 new covid cases taking the total number of cases to 1701.

Yesterday, the district had recorded 183 cases. Today more cases were reported from Bantwal and Ullal regions. 

According to sources, a 48-year-old man from Boloor, who was under treatment for covid-19 at designated covid hospital passed away today. 

A 62-year-old covid patient, who had SARI symptoms, breathed his last at a private hospital.

With this, the total number of deaths of covid-19 patients in the district reached 30 including two deaths caused by other reasons.

Of the 167 who tested positive on Thursday, 110 are males and 57 females including seven children.

Three have returned from Qatar and Dubai, one from Bengaluru, 42 are diagnosed with influenza-like illness (ILI), six are diagnosed with severe acute respiratory illness (SARI) and 64 are primary contacts of earlier patients. Contact tracing process of 38 patients is on, and 13 pre-surgery samples.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.