Mangaluru, October 21: Principal district and sessions court judge Kadlur Satyanaranayacharya hailed the role of police personnel in maintaining the internal security in the society.

Speaking at the Police Commemoration Day programme here on Sunday, the judge said that in the last year, 414 police personnel, officers and staff have lost their precious lives while serving the society in the country. Their service is ensuring the security and safety in the society is commendable. They were on duty for round-the-clock. If the people have been sleeping peacefully, it was because of the efforts of the police. If there was no police force in the society, the anti-social elements would have been ruling the roost in the society, he said.

Last year, two rowdy sheeters, with weapons, have tried to abduct a person in Gulbarga. But at that time, the police, without any weapons, had arrested the rowdy sheeters risking their lives. The police would not use their weapons as and when they want. The police have been working under mental and physical pressure. People should understand the working nature of the police department and cooperative with them to ensure law and order situation in the society, he said.

SP Dr. B.R. Ravikanthe Gowda listed out the martyr police personnel on the occasion. Deputy Commissioner Sasikanth Senthil, Police Commissioner T.R. Suresh, Judge Mallanna Gowda, Law and Order Division DCP Hanumantharaya, ACP Manjunath Shetty and others paid homage to the martyrs on the occasion.

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Belagavi (Karnataka) (PTI): The opposition BJP on Wednesday staged a walkout from the Karnataka assembly protesting the alleged "non-disbursal" of two months' installments to 1.26 crore beneficiaries under a woman's assistance scheme of the state government.

The protest followed a heated debate in which the opposition accused the state government of providing "misleading" information regarding the payment status of the flagship Gruha Lakshmi scheme.

The saffron party members trooped into the well of the House and raised slogans, leading to the adjournment of the proceedings of the House for over an hour.

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The Gruha Lakshmi guarantee scheme is one of the five pre-poll promises of the ruling Congress. It provides Rs 2,000 monthly to women heads of the Below Poverty Line (BPL) families.

The BJP legislators accused Woman and Child Welfare Minister Laxmi Hebbalkar of having "misled" the House by giving false information to BJP MLA Mahesh Tenginkai that all the instalments till August have been paid under the scheme.

The opposition charged that the installments for the months of February and March this year were not paid.

The BJP MLAs' grouse was that they had been demanding an explanation from the Minister for the past three days, but she never turned up to provide information.

As soon as the session started, the opposition members trooped into the well of the House demanding the Minister's presence, which led to the adjournment.

When the members assembled again, the Minister replied that this is a unique flagship programme of the Congress government, which is a model for all the states.

Hebbalkar said she always strived to ensure that this scheme is implemented religiously.

"However, when I checked, I noticed that two months' installments were not paid to the beneficiaries through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT). If my reply has hurt anyone, then I express my regret," she said.

Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, who came to the defence of Hebbalkar, said the BJP should apologise for the lie in the Union Budget.

"Despite the Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announcing Rs 5,300 crore for the Upper Bhadra Irrigation Project in the budget, the money was not given to Karnataka. You should question that as well," Shivakumar underlined.

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To this, Leader of Opposition in the assembly R Ashoka said the matter was raised because not only were the BJP members hurt but also the 1.26 crore beneficiaries who were eagerly waiting for the money.

Demanding that the lie be expunged from the House records, he insisted on a date for when the backlog will be paid to the beneficiaries.

The Minister said she was apologising for giving a wrong reply, but she was peeved at the way a woman was targeted in the House.

Objecting to this statement, BJP MLA S Suresh Kumar asked her to refrain from playing victim card and bring up the issue of gender, caste and religious discrimination as it was a matter related to 1.26 crore people.

Ashoka and the BJP MLAs then staged a walkout, saying the Minister's reply was not satisfactory.