U T Khader mulls health cards for employees of hotels, eateries across Karnataka

[email protected] (CD Network)
May 10, 2014
Bangalore, May 10: Karnataka Health and Family Welfare Minister U?T Khader has come up with a new plan of issuing health cards to employees of all hotels and eateries in the State to ensure they are hygienic, healthy and fit to work.

Speaking to media persons he said that his department is pushing for a more hygienic environment at hotels and roadside eateries in the light of the Food Safety and Security Act (FSSA.

utk“As part of the project, we are planning to issue health cards to hotels and eateries certifying their product quality is good for consumption,” said Khader.

If the plan is implemented, health cards will be issued to hotel and eatery workers after they undergo a physical examination by local government doctors, the minister said.

Currently, the department is formulating an action plan to put the scheme in place. There are as many as three lakh registered hotels and eateries in the State.

On the strict implementation of the Act, Khader said the department was trying to recruit more food safety inspectors.

Now, there are sanctioned posts for 377 food inspectors. Of these, 117 posts have been filled and 260 are vacant.

He said there had been a lot of talk over the last four years, but little had been done due to lack of political will to implement the FSSA.

“We are looking at fresh ideas to strengthen and implement the Act. I?also suggest that there needs to be decentralisation of power to act against those violating the FSSA. So, we are looking at assistant commissioners at the district level, and tahsildars at the taluk level to be nodal officers for food inspectors,” said Khader.

In the last four years, only 425 cases of adulteration and 225 cases of misbranding' have been filed against hotels, eateries, food and grocery stores, etc. Of these, only in four cases the department has fined the violators. It has collected a fine of Rs 1.5 lakh in these four cases.

The department officials claim that the rest of the cases are pending in various courts.

The department officials said the government would also direct eateries and hotels and grocery and food stores to display notice boards indicating they are covered under the FSSA.

They said the government would be giving out the numbers and designations of the district officers and the locations where citizens can send food samples for testing.

“In Bangalore, we have two government labs to test food. Along with them, we have seven private labs which can also conduct tests on food samples to detect their quality. Citizens can approach these labs for getting food samples tested and then register a complaint with our district officers,” Khader said.

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News Network
January 3,2020

Bengaluru, Jan 3: Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on Friday clarified that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has assured him to consider all the demands made by his government.

"Prime Minister spoke to me personally and assured me of all help and suggested that I visit New Delhi and meet the concerned Ministers and apprise them about the state's problems and pending projects. He also directed me to prepare a detail report on this matter," Yediyurappa said in a statement.

He claimed that a section of media has misinterpreted his speech which was plain and honest towards the development of the state.

"A section of media has attached motive to my speech which was plain and honest in its content. Being in federal set up, there is nothing wrong with placing the facts before the Prime Minister and making submissions," the Chief Minister said.

"As a Chief Minister, I placed our state's problems and need for more funds for developmental activities. I pleaded before the Prime Minister for more funds to the relief work, the scientific and remunerative price for the farm produces, and special fund of Rs 50,000 crore for speeding up of on-going irrigation work. As it was farmers' meet, I felt it worthy and timely to plead the Prime Minister for more funds for all the developmental activities in the state," he said.

Asserting that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a great visionary and his concern for the poor and farmers is unquestionable, he said: "When the whole world is appreciating his statesmanship and visionary zeal, it is in very bad taste for the media to attribute motives to my speech and relate it to the Prime Minister."

Yediyurappa requested media to show support to his government in the interest of the development of the state.

"I humbly request the electronic and print media not to misinterpret but support the government in the interest of the development of the state and interests of the people. I hope the media will respond to my request," he said.

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News Network
February 26,2020

Hubballi/Vijayapura, Feb 26: A 40-year-old resident of Talikoti town in Vijayapura was arrested on Tuesday and charged with sedition for allegedly saying 'I Love Pak Army' on a social media page and sharing a video of a song, 'Pakistan Zindabad'.

Police said they registered an FIR against Meru alias Merusab Hasansab Byagwat on a complaint filed by a contractor, Ashok Rathod of Nebgiri Tanda.

Byagwat has been booked under IPC sections pertaining to sedition (124A), promoting enmity between communities and making assertions prejudicial to national integration (153 A & B), among others.

In his complaint, Rathod said Meru had posted the video on his social media account on February 22. Rathod said he took a screenshot of the video and made some inquiries before approaching police.

Police said Meru would be produced in court soon.

Police said they are keeping a watch on pro-Pakistan activities. On Monday, slogans praising Pakistan surfaced on the walls of a government primary school in Budarsinghi. In the third week of February, three Kashmiri students shot a video hailing Pakistan and circulated it on social media in Hubballi.

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News Network
March 6,2020

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.

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