Free midday meal for private disability schools from current year: CM Kumaraswamy
Bengaluru, July 14: I have discussed with the concerned authorities to supply free midday meal and milk from the current academic year to the special private schools, said Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy.
He was speaking after inaugurating a convention of the special children, parents, teachers and non-teaching staff of special schools, and heads of seva samsthe organised by the Karnataka State Disability Services Organizations Union at Shikshakara Sadana in the city on Saturday. "I have special concerns for children with disabilities. When I was Chief Minister earlier, I had provided an opportunity for the specially-abled children to come directly to the Vidhana Soudha and meet the chief minister and other ministers. Many people with disability had come to me asking employment, I have provided job to them,” the CM said.
“I have provided special facilities for disabled in this budget. I have ordered to waive off the disables’ loans. It has been decided to allot 20 acres of land to provide employment training and rehabilitation center for differently abled persons. The decision has been taken to give scholarships to those differently abled persons who travel abroad for higher education,” he added.
“Excluding the facilities announced in the budget, I am always ready to provide more assistance to disables. There must be transparency in the facilities that are coming from various organisations to the disables. Strict legal action will be taken against the relevant authorities if any corruption takes place in this matter,” he warned.
Minister UT Khader, HV Gopalappa, Vasant Kumar Shetty, Apuravu, and others were present.
Olympic Games for disables
While there are many disabled sports persons in the state, it is the government's duty to encourage such athletes. Therefore, an International Special Olympic Games will be held at Mangaluru. Soon a meeting with concerned officials will be called.
-HD.Kumaraswamy Chief Minister
Important demands
The Department of Welfare of Disabled and Senior Citizens must be separated from the Department of Women and Child Development
- Disabled Development Corporation must be established.
-A separate budget must be fixed for the Department of Welfare of Disabled and Senior Citizens.
-Financial assistance, job security and retirement fund must be announced for the special teachers working in disabled and mentally retarded schools.
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Sanjay Raut demands re-election, alleges irregularities in EVMs during Maharashtra polls
Mumbai, Nov 25: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Monday demanded a re-election in Maharashtra using ballot papers, claiming there were irregularities with the electronic voting machines (EVMs).
Talking to reporters, Raut alleged several complaints about EVMs malfunctioning and questioned the integrity of the recently held elections.
The BJP-led Mahayuti won 230 out of 288 seats in the assembly elections, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi managed 46 seats, with Shiv Sena (UBT) winning just 20 out of 95 seats it contested.
"We have received nearly 450 complaints regarding EVMs. Despite raising objections repeatedly, no action has been taken on these issues. How can we say these elections were conducted fairly? Hence, I demand that the results be set aside and elections be held again using ballot papers," Raut said.
Citing some instances, he said a candidate in Nashik reportedly received only four votes despite having 65 votes from his family, while in Dombivli, discrepancies were found in EVM tallies, and election officials refused to acknowledge the objections.
The Sena (UBT) leader also questioned the credibility of the landslide victories of some candidates, saying, "What revolutionary work have they done to receive more than 1.5 lakh votes? Even leaders who recently switched parties have become MLAs. This raises suspicions. For the first time, a senior leader like Sharad Pawar has expressed doubts about EVMs, which cannot be ignored."
Asked about the MVA's poor performance in the elections, Raut rejected the idea of blaming a single individual.
"We fought as a united MVA. Even a leader like Sharad Pawar, who commands immense respect in Maharashtra, faced defeat. This shows that we need to analyse the reasons behind the failure. One of the reasons is EVM irregularities and the misuse of the system, unconstitutional practices, and even judicial decisions left unresolved by Justice Chandrachud," he said.
Raut stressed that though internal differences might have existed within the MVA, the failure was collective.
He also accused the Mahayuti of conducting the elections in an unfair manner.
"I cannot call the elections fair given the numerous reports of discrepancies in EVMs, mismatched numbers, and vote irregularities across the state," Raut said.
