Ganeshotsava: Karnataka to take decision as per Centre's instruction: Minister V Sunil Kumar
Udupi, Aug 30: The demand from various Hindu organisations to permit public celebration of Ganeshotsava this year will be considered as per the instructions of the Centre, Karnataka Minister for Energy, Kannada and Culture V Sunil Kumar said on Monday.
The state government will also hold consultations with health experts before taking a decision in view of the Covid situation, he told reporters at Udupi.
"Though the demand of people can be understood, the primary duty of the government is to protect the health of the people," he said.
The minister said physical classes for students from ninth grade to second pre-university courses in Udupi district will begin soon as the Covid situation has improved. The test positivity rate in the district has come down to 1.4 per cent in the last three days, he said.
Kumar said private educational institutions have been directed to strictly abide by the Covid-19 guidelines issued by the government. All the teachers attending classes should be fully vaccinated, he said.
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Waqf row: Karnataka govt warns action against officials issuing eviction notice to farmers
Bengaluru (PTI): The Karnataka government has warned that disciplinary action will be taken against those officials who change the land mutation records and serve eviction notices to farmers under the Waqf Act.
In a letter, the Revenue Department Principal Secretary Rajender Kumar Kataria reminded all regional commissioners and deputy commissioners in the districts that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah recently had a meeting following complaints about certain land properties being made in favour of the Karnataka Board of Waqfs.
In the meeting it was decided that all the directions issued previously by any government office or authority to change the mutation records has been withdrawn, the letter said.
It added that all the notices served in the past have also been withdrawn and no action should be taken against the farmers who are cultivating on the said land.
On the directions of the chief minister, the previous letters and the latest reminders served on November 7 to the farmers and land owners have been withdraw, the letter said.
"The officials who served reminder-2 despite the chief minister's direction will face appropriate disciplinary action," Kataria said in his letter.
He said he has been instructed to strictly implement the chief minister's direction.
The fresh direction was issued in poll-bound Karnataka, where bypolls to three crucial assembly segments are due on November 13.
Some farmers in Honwad village in Vijayapura in north Karnataka had alleged last month that they were served eviction notices as the Waqf Board claimed rights over it.
Subsequently, complaints started in pouring in from some other parts of the state.
BJP leader Tejasvi Surya on October 25 alleged that Karnataka Waqf Minister B Z Zameer Ahmed Khan directed the deputy commissioners and revenue officials to register lands in favour of the Waqf Board within 15 days, which resulted in confusion.
On Surya's request, the Chairman of the Joint Committee of Parliament on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, Jagdambika Pal visited Karnataka on November 7 and met farmers in Hubballi, Vijayapura and Belagavi districts who had alleged that their lands were marked as Waqf properties.
