Udupi: BJP sweeps Zilla Panchayat, all 3 Taluk Panchayats; Cong suffers blow

Bengaluru, May 17: Karnataka Government on Sunday decided to appoint Administrative Committees, to over 6000 Panchayat Bodies, in the state, who’s five-year term would comes to an end this month.

Speaking to the media here, the Karnataka Panchayat Raj Minister, K S Eshwarappa informed that the state cabinet met recently had favored to appoint committees which would replace the elected bodies.

Informing that there is provision in the Panchayath Raj Act to appoint the committees, he said that the concerned Deputy Commissioners of the district, would appoint the members, to the committee, who were eligible to be nominated to the committees.

Bengaluru, May 29: Seven out of ten (72 per cent) workers in Karnataka reported having lost their employment during the COVID-19-induced lockdown, according to findings of a survey by Azim Premji University, in collaboration with ten civil society organisations.

The university said in a statement it conducted "a detailed" phone survey of 5,000 workers across 12 states in the country, to gauge the impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on employment, livelihoods, and access to government relief schemes.

The survey covered self-employed, casual, and regular wage and salaried workers and it released the findings for Karnataka on Thursday.

Seventy-six per cent of urban workers and 66 per cent of rural workers lost their employment, the survey findings said.

For non-agricultural self-employed workers and wage workers, who were still employed, average weekly earnings fell by two-third.

More than four in ten salaried workers (44 per cent) saw either a reduction in their salary or received no salary during the lockdown.

Six out of ten households reported that they did not have enough money to buy even a weeks worth of essential items, according to the survey.

Eight out ten households reported a reduction in food intake, while less than three in ten vulnerable households (27 per cent) in urban Karnataka received any form of cash transfer from the government, it said.

In summary, the disruption in the Karnatakas economy and labour markets is enormous. Livelihoods have been devastated at unprecedented levels during the lockdown.

The recovery from this could be slow and very painful, the statement said.

As a response to the findings of this survey, the team which has conducted the survey suggested a universalisation of the PDS to expand its reach and implementation of expanded rations for at least the next six months.

It suggested cash transfers equal to at least Rs.7000 per month for two months, and proactive steps like expansion of MGNREGA, introduction of urban employment guarantee, and investment in universal basic services, among others.

Belthangady, Jul 26: The forest department officials on Sunday banned traffic in Charmadi ghat section as a precautionary measure following information that landslide and uprooting of trees may take place due to heavy rain which has been lashing the ghat section since last one week.

The officials said that a tree was likely to be uprooted in the 6th and 7th cross of the ghat section therefore the entry of vehicles were banned and this has resulted in a traffic jam.

It is said that despite lockdown many vehicles have been playing in the Ghat section.