The Karnataka government has decided to order a departmental inquiry into the supply of substandard material for uniforms of government school students during the academic years 2021-23 under Vidya Vikas project by the Karnataka Handloom Development Corporation (KHDC) during the previous BJP government.
The probe will be done by the Department of Commerce and Industries.
Briefing on the decisions taken at a State Cabinet meeting presided by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister H.K. Patil said handloom weavers supplied 1.34 crore metres of good cloth. However, the quality of fabric supplied by KHDC was substandard. The work order was issued to supply cloth of ₹144 crore, out of which ₹117 crore was paid. The cloth supplied, worth ₹54.8 crore, was of poor quality. The release of ₹26 crore had been kept on hold. However, it was decided to release ₹14.48 crore to weavers who supplied good cloth to KHDC, Mr. Patil said.
Following the complaint, the managing director of KHDC was suspended. The police registered an FIR against Muddaiah S., ex-managing director of KHDC, and others.
For delimitation
The Cabinet decided to amend the Karnataka Gram Swaraj and Panchayat Raj Act for undertaking delimitation of zilla panchayat constituencies in the Malnad districts of the State. It was proposed to reduce the population size from 35,000 to 40,000 to 18,000 to 25,000 per constituency in hilly regions of Shivamogga, Chikkamagaluru, and Kodagu districts. However, it would not cover three taluks (Shivamogga, Bhadravati, and Shikaripur) in Shivamogga districts.
In another decision, the Cabinet authorised the Chief Minister to fill vacancies of two members in the Karnataka Public Service Commission; and the chairman and two members of the 5th State Finance Commission.
Administrative approval was given to release ₹17 crore for construction of tertiary cancer care centre at Mandya Institute of Medical Sciences, ₹162.8 crore for construction of a super-speciality building on the campuses of Kalaburagi Institute of Medical Sciences; and ₹29.76 crore for construction of hostel building at Koppal Institute of Medical Sciences, Mr. Patil said.
The B.Ed qualification has been made mandatory for teachers recruited for job-oriented courses in PU colleges in the State.
The Cabinet decided to declare a list of drought-hit taluks in the State after obtaining all information on the ground in the next meeting. The issue of releasing Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu was also discussed by the Ministers in the Cabinet but no formal decision was taken.
