Bengaluru: Karnataka Revenue Minister pledges crackdown on unauthorized layouts
Bengaluru: Karnataka's Revenue Minister, Krishna Byre Gowda, has committed to taking strict action against the construction of unauthorized layouts around Bengaluru. This pledge came in response to concerns raised by BJP member S.R. Vishwanath during a session of the Legislative Assembly on Monday.
Gowda emphasized the illegal conversion of agricultural land into residential layouts, stating, "Agricultural land is being illegally converted and registered into layouts, a process that is both illegal and unwise to legalize. If we ignore this, the problem will only worsen."
He also addressed the misuse of a classification system in Sub-Registrar Offices, known as "Other," which is intended for registering ‘grama thana’ and similar properties. Gowda noted that illegal registrations have been processed under this system, prompting plans to eliminate its misuse.
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To tackle illegal registrations, Gowda proposed linking sub-registrars directly with the e-khata facility, which is managed by local bodies, including village panchayats and municipal councils. He explained, "An amendment bill for the online integration of all separate accounts has already been passed in the legislature, awaiting the President's signature. Implementation of this bill is expected to curb unauthorized registrations effectively."
BJP MLA S.R. Vishwanath highlighted the extent of the issue, revealing that illegal registrations of agricultural land in Bengaluru and surrounding areas involve bribes of Rs. 35,000 per transaction. He noted that around 100 layouts are registered daily, resulting in transactions worth Rs. 35 lakhs, with an estimated Rs. 8 crores collected in bribes each month.
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'Low-quality' catheters supplied to West Bengal govt hospitals at high price, probe ordered
Kolkata (PTI): The West Bengal health department has launched a probe into the supplies of allegedly low-quality and locally made catheters at a high price to several government hospitals, posing a risk to the lives of patients undergoing treatment in these facilities, officials said.
Such central venous catheters (CVCs) were allegedly supplied to at least five medical colleges and hospitals in the state, defying allocation of international standard-compliant CVCs, they said.
The distribution company, which has been accused of supplying these catheters to government hospitals, admitted to the fault but placed the blame on its employees.
"We started checking stocks some time back and found these locally made CVCs in my hospital store. These catheters are of low quality as compared to those allocated by the state. We have informed the state health department," a senior official of the Calcutta Medical College and Hospital told PTI.
Low-quality catheters were also found in the stores of other hospitals, which indicates "possible involvement of insiders in the scam", a health department official said.
The low-quality CVCs were supplied by a distributor in the Hatibagan area in the northern part of Kolkata for the last three to four months, he said.
"Such kinds of local CVCs are priced around Rs 1,500 but the distributor took Rs 4,177 for each device," the official said.
A CVC is a thin and flexible tube that is inserted into a vein to allow for the administration of fluids, blood, and other treatment. It's also clinically called a central line catheter.
"An initial probe revealed that the distribution company Prakash Surgical had supplied the low-quality and locally manufactured catheters to several government hospitals instead of the CVCs of the government-designated international company.
"All the units will be tested and a proper investigation is on to find out who benefited from these supplies," the health department official said.
The distribution company blamed its employees for the supply of inferior quality catheters.
"I was sick for a few months. Some employees of the organisation made this mistake. We are taking back all those units that have gone to the hospitals. It's all about misunderstanding," an official of the distribution company told PTI.
According to another state health department official, a complaint was lodged with the police in this connection.
Asked about how many patients were affected by the usage of such low-quality CVCs, the official said, "The probe would also try to find that out".
According to sources in the health department, some of the staff of the hospitals' equipment receiving departments and some local officials of international organisations might be involved in the alleged irregularities.
