Minister Santosh Lad writes to CM Siddaramaiah urging new Board for persons with disabilities
Bengaluru: Labour Minister Santosh Lad has written to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah recommending the creation of a separate corporation or board dedicated to persons with disabilities, arguing that such a body would ensure faster and more direct delivery of government benefits.
In his letter, the minister noted that issues related to persons with disabilities currently fall under the Department of Women and Child Development and the Department for the Empowerment of Senior Citizens. He said the department’s wide mandate makes it difficult to implement disability-related rights and schemes in a timely manner.
Lad said that although the government has announced several rights and welfare measures for persons with disabilities, the services linked to those rights are often delayed. One of the reasons, he indicated, could be the large and diverse responsibilities handled by the Women and Child Development Department.
According to him, establishing a dedicated corporation or board would streamline administration and help ensure that welfare benefits reach beneficiaries quickly and directly. He requested the chief minister to issue suitable directions to the concerned officials to examine the proposal.
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Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
