The State Cabinet on Friday constituted a new committee to look into encroachments of government lands in and around Bengaluru on the lines of the A. T. Ramaswamy committee that had earlier filed a detailed report on encroachment of government land.
Briefing mediapersons after the Cabinet meeting, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister J.C. Madhuswamy said the six-member legislature committee will be headed by former Speaker and BJP MLA K.G. Bopaiah. The committee comprises MLAs Araga Jnanendra, S.R. Vishwanath, A.T. Ramaswamy, Rajashekhar Basavaraj Patil, and Narasimha Naik (Raju Gowda).
The committee has been constituted at a time when questions are being asked about the delay in initiating action against land sharks based on the A.T. Ramaswamy committee. The committee had been formed during the JD(S)-BJP coalition regime in 2006. The committee had submitted its interim report in February 2007 and final report in July 2007.
The Cabinet also gave administrative approval for increasing the capacity of Hemavati canal in the stretch of 0 to 70 km from 1,200 cusecs to 2,400 cusecs at a cost of ₹475 crore. In the first phase, works to the tune of ₹250 crore would be taken up, said Mr. Madhuswamy.
The Cabinet gave administrative clearance for building high security wards at a cost of ₹100 crore in Bengaluru Central Prison at Parappana Agrahara and a separate block in Vijayapura prison at a cost of ₹99.98 crore.
It also decided to build special godowns in all 30 district centres to house EVMs and VVPATs at a cost of ₹123 crore. Such a decision had been taken as per the advise of the Election Commission of India, Mr. Madhuswamy said.
The Cabinet decided to extend the term of the special task force that had been formed by the Lokayukta to probe illegal mining cases by one more year. It also decided to amend the rules concerned to appoint district in-charge Ministers as chairpersons of District Planning Committees instead of the present system of choosing between the zilla panchayat president or district in-charge Minister.
Other decisions
Other decisions include improving infrastructure at Peenya (Bengaluru) and M T. Sagar Industrial Estates (Hubballi) at a cost of ₹50 crore and ₹18.5 crore respectively; setting up Jayadeva Institute of Cardiology in Kalaburagi at a cost of ₹150 crore; setting up new medical colleges in Haveri and Yadgir with central assistance to the tune of 60%; increasing the capacity of Indira Gandhi Institute of Child Health by 450 beds; increasing the capacity of government general hospital in Karwar from 300 beds to 750 beds at a cost of ₹144.51 crore; and prescribing fee structure for ITIs.
One-time incentive of ₹3,000 for ASHAs
The State Cabinet on Friday decided to provide one-time incentive of ₹3,000 each to all 41,628 ASHAs (Accredited Social Health Activists). Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister J.C. Madhuswamy said the outgo owing to such an incentive would be around ₹12.48 crore.
Decks cleared for Chickballapur medical college
The decks for building the proposed government medical college, which was shifted from Kanakapura to Chickballapur, were cleared by the State Cabinet on Friday. The Cabinet approved tenders to the tune of ₹508 crore for constructing the building. Though the chosen bidder had quoted ₹558 crore, the cost had been reduced through negotiation.
Two sugar mills to be leased
The two sick government-run sugar mills in Pandavapura and Chunchanakatte in K.R. Nagar are set to get a new lease of life as the State government on Friday cleared the proposal to lease them to private operators for 40 years. Tenders would be invited to operate the two sugar mills on Lease-Rennovation-Operate-Transfer basis.
