After poll drubbing, Kumaraswamy to resume village stay programme
Bengaluru, Jun 2: Days after the JD(S) was decimated in the Lok Sabha elections in Karnataka, Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy Sunday announced that he will resume his "Grama Vastavaiya" (village stay) programme to find out the challenges facing the state's rural areas.
Kumaraswamy had initiated the programme to interact with villagers during his previous tenure as chief minister, which lasted from February 2006 to October 2007.
"'Grama Vastavaiya' is a way to reach out to the people, to understand their problems and to know the functioning of the government. Soon 'Grama Vastavaiya' is going to start in government schools," Kumaraswamy said in a tweet.
During his previous stint, Kumaraswamy used to spend the nights at villagers' houses as part of the initiative.
This time, however, he has decided to stay in government schools.
"During his previous term as chief minister, Kumaraswamy had conducted 47 'Grama Vastavaiya'. He had stayed in 47 houses. This time he has decided to stay in government schools," an official associated with the Chief Minister's Office said.
The idea behind staying in government schools is to improve the conditions there, he said.
Officers will ensure that the rooms, desks, benches and other school infrastructure are in good shape, he added.
The modalities are being worked out and the details of the programme will soon be made public, the officer said.
Most likely, the chief minister will kick-start the village stay programme from Kodagu district, which has still not fully recovered from last year's devastating floods.
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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
