Karnataka orders prior permission for all private events on govt premises
Bengaluru (PTI): The Karnataka government on Saturday issued orders making prior permission mandatory for private organisations, associations, or groups to use any government property or premises for programmes, events, or processions.
The move comes two days after the state cabinet decided that prior approval must be obtained for using government schools, college premises, and public spaces to conduct any event.
According to the order, the regulation aims to “preserve, protect and ensure proper utilisation” of public properties, including land, buildings, roads, parks, playgrounds, and waterbodies.
The directive follows a report by M A Saleem, Director General and Inspector General of Police (Karnataka), citing unauthorised use and poor maintenance of public premises after private events.
The government noted that such activities were “adversely affecting” government properties.
Under the new rules, prior written permission must be obtained at least three days in advance from the competent authority, defined as the jurisdictional deputy commissioner, commissioner of police, or an authorised officer. These officials may also seek clearances from departments such as PWD, Fire, and Electricity before granting approval.
Applicants and organisers will be jointly and severally liable for any loss, damage, or criminal offences arising from such events and must compensate for any harm to public or private property.
Unauthorised use of government premises will be treated as an unlawful assembly under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) 2023, empowering police to take preventive and legal action under the Bharatiya Nagarika Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) 2023, the order added.
Detailed guidelines will be issued by the respective departments to ensure citizens’ constitutional rights are not compromised while granting permissions.
Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge had recently written to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah requesting a ban on RSS activities in government schools, colleges, and public spaces.
“An organisation called the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh has been conducting its shakhas in government and government-aided schools, as well as in public grounds, where slogans are shouted and negative ideas are instilled in the minds of children and youth," Kharge wrote.
According to him, such practices “go against India’s unity and the spirit of the Constitution.”
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Sunetra Pawar elected as NCP's legislature party leader
Mumbai (PTI): Rajya Sabha member Sunetra Pawar was unanimously elected as the leader of the NCP legislature party in Maharashtra on Saturday, three days after the death of her husband and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar.
She is set to take oath as the first woman Deputy Chief Minister of the state later in the day.
Sunetra Pawar's name as the NCP's legislature party leader was proposed by senior leader Dilip Walse Patil and seconded by Food and Civil Supplies Minister Chhagan Bhujbal.
She was elected during a meeting of the party's legislature wing, held at the office of late Ajit Pawar on the ground floor of the Vidhan Bhavan complex in south Mumbai.
Ajit Pawar, who was deputy chief minister and finance minister in the Devendra Fadnavis-led Mahayuti government, was killed in a plane crash in Baramati along with four others on January 28.
Sunetra Pawar paid floral tributes to a portrait of her late husband in the meeting hall. Their younger son Jay was also present.
Many ministers and legislators were teary-eyed when they entered the Vidhan Bhavan complex.
The Lok Bhavan has confirmed that the swearing-in ceremony of Sunetra Pawar as the state deputy CM will be held at 5 pm in Mumbai.
Until the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Sunetra Pawar had kept a low profile. In the Lok Sabha elections that year, she contested from Baramati as the candidate of her husband's party, but was defeated by her sister-in-law and incumbent NCP (SP) MP Supriya Sule in the prestige battle.
Sunetra Pawar was subsequently elected to the Rajya Sabha.
