Retired ACP Suryaguttu Subhaschandra passes away in Mangaluru
Belthangady: Suryaguttu Subhaschandra (70), a retired Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) and trustee of the Sri Sadashiva Rudra Temple, breathed his last in a private hospital in Mangaluru at around 2:30 am on Wednesday. Subhaschandra had been battling health issues for some time.
Survived by his wife, son, and brother Dr. S Satishchandra, who holds the position of General Secretary at the SDM Group of Education Society, Subhaschandra had a distinguished career in law enforcement. He began his journey as a sub-inspector in 1979 and served in various locations, including Bengaluru, Madikeri, Karwar, Udupi, Mangaluru, Belthangady, and Puttur.
Recognizing his exemplary service, Subhaschandra was honored with the Chief Minister's Police Medal in 2008. He also made significant contributions to international peacekeeping efforts, serving as a member of the United Nations team in Kosovo for one year.
The cremation rites of Subhaschandra were conducted at his native village, Suryaguttu, at 12 noon on Wednesday.
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Will review ‘Shakti scheme’ as women prefer to pay for bus ride, says Deputy CM DK Shivakumar
Bengaluru, Oct 30: Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Wednesday said the government will review the Shakti scheme after several women commuters have expressed their wish to pay for their bus tickets.
After flagging off new Airavata club class 2.0 buses of the state-owned Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC), Shivakumar said, “Many women have been communicating to us through social media and emails that they would like to pay for their tickets. We will discuss this.”
Shakti scheme is one of the five pre-poll guarantees of the Congress government. It offers free ride to women in non-luxury buses across Karnataka. It was launched on June 11, 2023 within a month of Congress coming to power.
As on October 18, 2024, the state spent Rs 7,507.35 crore on the Shakti scheme for the 311.07 crore free rides by the women.
ALSO READ: KSRTC adds 20 luxury buses each worth Rs 1.78 crore to its fleet
Explaining further, he said, “About 5 to 10 per cent women say that the conductors are not taking money for the tickets even when they volunteer. I will soon hold a meeting with Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy and discuss this.”
The Deputy CM said the KSRTC has made a name for itself in the country. It has received 112 national and international awards in the last year.
He hailed the KSRTC employees for their hard work in achieving the feat.
“When KSRTC started, it had 120 buses. Today, it has 24,282 busses. After we came to power, we announced a plan to purchase 6,200 buses and we have purchased 3,400 buses till now. We have also initiated recruitment of 9,000 drivers and conductors,” he added.
About 1,000 people were given jobs on compassionate grounds, Shivakumar noted.
“The families of employees who are killed in accidents are given Rs one crore compensation. We have the best system in the whole country.”
Underlining that the KSRTC is a not-for-profit firm only to serve the people, Shivakumar said, “Private players have come forward to provide fuel to KSRTC at a cheaper than market rate. We will discuss with all stakeholders and proceed on this.”
