Karnataka govt forms four cabinet sub-committees on drought
Bengaluru, Nov 23: The Karnataka government Friday said it has decided to constitute four cabinet sub-committees of senior ministers for each revenue division to ensure effective implementation of drought mitigation measures.
The state government has notified 100 taluks of 24 districts as drought affected.
"To ensure effective implementation of drought mitigation measures and to review drought mitigation works taken up by Deputy Commissioners, the government will constitute four cabinet sub-committees, comprising senior ministers, for each revenue division," Revenue Minister R V Deshpande said.
Speaking to reporters here, he said a senior officer of the rank of secretary or principal secretary would work as the coordinating officer in the cabinet sub-committees.
The committees would tour drought affected districts and hold meetings with all concerned and guide the Deputy Commissioners in drought relief and mitigation measures, the minister added.
Noting that the dry spell was continuing in the state, 'reeling under 49 per cent rain deficiency' in the rabi season, he said that the government's response to mitigate the impact of drought has been mainly on employment generation, provision of drinking water and fodder availability.
He said sufficient funds -- Rs 220 crore -- was available with Deputy Commissioners to take up drought mitigation works.
Apart from this, Rs 50 lakh (united fund) has been approved from the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj department to each drought affected taluk to take up drinking water related works, the minister said.
As of now drinking water was being supplied through tankers to 197 villages in 13 districts, officials said, adding that the situation was likely to exacerbate in the coming days and steps were being taken to respond to it.
Referring to drought and floods during the Kharif season of 2018, Deshpande said a 10 member inter-ministerial central team extensively toured 13 drought affected districts from November 17 to 19.
"The team is expected to submit its report by the end of this month and we are confident that the state will receive funds through NDRF in a short time," the minister said.
Deshpande also said as it was found that fodder was going to neighbouring states like Tamil Nadu, Kerala,Andhra Pradesh Maharashtra and Goa,the cabinet sub-committee recently decided to ban movement of fodder to other states up to May 31, 2019.
The government anticipates a "problem" in the Rabi season also as the sowing acreage has fallen by about eight lakh hectares, compared to last year.
Officials said that the targeted area for rabi sowing was 31.80 lakh hectares. Till November 16, sowing was done in 20.76 lakh hectares against the normal 26.19lakh hectares.
Last year during the same period (Nov 16) sowing was completed in 28.22 lakh hectares, they said.
Deshpande also noted that the revenue department had conducted a 'File disposal week' from November 12-18, during which more than 2.56 lakh files were cleared.
"In Future also, we will try to evolve different strategies to clear about 7,97,258 files that are pending as on November 19," he said.
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Broken relationships don't automatically amount to abetment of suicide: SC
New Delhi (PTI): Broken relationships, while emotionally distressing, do not automatically amount to abetment of suicide in the absence of intention leading to the criminal offence, the Supreme Court on Friday said.
The observations came from a bench of Justices Pankaj Mithal and Ujjal Bhuyan in a judgement, which overturned the conviction of one Kamaruddin Dastagir Sanadi by the Karnataka High Court for the offences of cheating and abetment of suicide under the IPC.
"This is a case of a broken relationship, not criminal conduct," the judgment said.
Sanadi was initially charged under Sections 417 (cheating), 306 (abetment of suicide), and 376 (rape) of the IPC.
While the trial court acquitted him of all the charges, the Karnataka High Court, on the state's appeal, convicted him of cheating and abetment of suicide, sentencing him to five years imprisonment and imposing Rs 25,000 in fine.
According to the FIR registered at the mother's instance, her 21-year-old daughter was in love with the accused for the past eight years and died by suicide in August, 2007, after he refused to keep his promise to marry.
Writing a 17-page judgement, Justice Mithal analysed the two dying declarations of the woman and noted that neither was there any allegation of a physical relationship between the couple nor there was any intentional act leading to the suicide.
The judgement therefore underlined broken relationships were emotionally distressing, but did not automatically amount to criminal offences.
"Even in cases where the victim dies by suicide, which may be as a result of cruelty meted out to her, the courts have always held that discord and differences in domestic life are quite common in society and that the commission of such an offence largely depends upon the mental state of the victim," said the apex court.
The court further said, "Surely, until and unless some guilty intention on the part of the accused is established, it is ordinarily not possible to convict him for an offence under Section 306 IPC.”
The judgement said there was no evidence to suggest that the man instigated or provoked the woman to die by suicide and underscored a mere refusal to marry, even after a long relationship, did not constitute abetment.
