CM Siddaramaiah accuses FM Sitharaman of lying on drought relief fund to Karnataka
Bengaluru, Apr 7: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Sunday alleged that Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman lied when she said that the drought relief fund was not released because the Model Code of Conduct is in force.
Speaking to reporters on Saturday, Sitharaman sought to defend the Centre saying procedures to release funds had taken time by which time the MCC came into effect.
She said that after the Karnataka government submitted a memorandum in October and the inter-ministerial central team conducted a spot assessment, the release of drought relief had to go through a few procedures and that it had taken time.
According to the finance minister, the central authorities had written to the Election Commission on March 28 to get prior approval to convene a high-level committee, given that the Model Code of Conduct in force -- and the EC's approval is awaited with regard to the grant of drought relief.
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Siddaramaiah said the state had submitted its memorandum for drought relief in December itself and rued the fact that despite Karnataka having the second highest tax collections in the country, the union government did not release the relief amount to the state.
“You please give a thought. Narendra Modi is Prime Minister for 10 years. Has he done anything for Bengaluru? He didn’t give you drinking water,” Siddaramaiah said, addressing the people during an election campaign for Congress's Bengaluru North Lok Sabha candidate Professor M V Rajeev Gowda.
He pointed out that Rs 4.30 lakh crore goes to the Centre as tax from Karnataka.
“When we ask for more (share) from our tax money and relief amount for drought mitigation, they lie,” the chief minister said, addressing the people in Dasarahalli.
After listening to Sitharaman’s statement, Karnataka Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda expressed his readiness for an open discussion and has even kept the stage ready for it, Siddaramaiah said.
“Shouldn’t Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman attend it or not? She did not turn up. Yesterday she was here in Bengaluru. (She didn’t come) because she has lied, now she cannot tell the truth,” the chief minister added.
“She has spoken one more big lie. When we asked why no relief amount was given for drought relief, she said that the election code of conduct has come in the way...but we had submitted a memorandum for drought relief in September (2023).”
“We had sought the relief amount in December. Yet, not a single rupee was released (for drought relief in Karnataka). Isn’t it injustice to the people of Karnataka?” Siddaramaiah asked.
According to government officials, drought has been declared in 226 out of 236 taluks in the state. A central team had also visited Karnataka in September last year. Since then, three memoranda were submitted to the Centre, seeking the release of funds.
In February, Siddaramaiah, his cabinet colleagues, MPs and MLAs staged a demonstration in Delhi for the release of grants to the state for drought mitigation.
Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar too hit out at Sitharaman saying she had admitted that the Centre has done injustice to Karnataka.
“"Nirmala Sitharaman has said that the announcement of general elections delayed drought relief funds to Karnataka. What is the connection between elections and drought relief? By saying this, she has admitted that drought relief is delayed and Centre has done injustice to Karnataka. She was accusing the state of not doing enough for drought relief," Shivakumar said.
According to him, the Karnataka government submitted the drought relief appeal four months ago when there was no Model Code of Conduct.
“Now she is giving the pretext of code of conduct. People are aware of the injustice of the Centre. This justifies D K Suresh's ‘Our tax, our right’ campaign, thanks to her," he said in a statement.
Three-time MP Suresh is Shivakumar’s brother who is contesting for a fourth term from Bengaluru Rural Lok Sabha constituency.
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SC stays CBI probe into West Bengal govt officials' role in teacher recruitment scam
New Delhi, Apr 29: The Supreme Court on Monday stayed a Calcutta High Court order directing the CBI to probe the role of West Bengal government officials in a teacher recruitment scam. It, however, refused to stay for now the cancellation of the appointment of over 25,000 teachers and non-teaching staff.
The top court was hearing a plea by the West Bengal government against a high court order invalidating the appointment of 25,753 teachers and non-teaching staff made by the School Service Commission (SSC) in state-run and state-aided schools.
A bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra, however, refused to stay the high court order cancelling the appointments and said it will hear the matter on May 6.
Observing that taking away the jobs of about 25,000 persons is a serious matter, the top court asked if it is possible to segregate the valid and invalid appointments on the basis of the material available and who the beneficiaries of the fraud are.
"We will stay the direction which says the CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) will undertake further investigation against officials in the state government," the bench said.
Calcutta High Court had said the CBI would undertake further investigations with regard to the persons in the state government involved in approving the creation of supernumerary posts to accommodate illegal appointments.
If necessary, the CBI will undertake custodial interrogation of such persons involved, it had said.
Challenging the order, the state government, in its appeal filed before the top court, said the high court cancelled the appointments "arbitrarily".
"The high court failed to appreciate the ramification of cancelling the entire selection process, leading to straightaway termination of teaching and non-teaching staff from service with immediate effect, without giving sufficient time to the petitioner state to deal with such an exigency, rendering the education system at a standstill," the plea said.
Calcutta High Court last week declared the selection process as "null and void" and directed the CBI to probe the appointment process. It also asked the central agency to submit a report within three months.
"All appointments granted in the selection processes involved being violative of articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution of India, are declared null and void and cancelled," the high court said in its April 22 order.
The high court said those appointed outside the officially available 24,640 vacancies, appointed after the expiry of the official date of recruitment, and those who submitted blank Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) sheets but obtained appointment to return all remunerations and benefits received by them with 12 per cent interest per annum within four weeks.
Observing that it had given "anxious consideration to the passionate plea" that persons who obtained the appointments legally would be prejudiced if the entire selection process was cancelled, the bench said it hardly had any choice left.
The high court held that all appointments involved were violative of articles 14 (equality before law) and 16 (prohibiting discrimination in employment in any government office) of the Constitution.
"It is shocking that, at the level of the cabinet of the state government, a decision is taken to protect employment obtained fraudulently in a selection process conducted by SSC for state-funded schools, knowing fully well that, such appointments were obtained beyond the panel and after expiry of the panel, at the bare minimum," the high court had said.
It said unless "there is a deep connection between the persons perpetuating the fraud and the beneficiaries" with persons involved in the decision-making process, such action to create supernumerary posts to protect illegal appointments is "inconceivable".
The division bench had also rejected a prayer by some appellants, including the SSC, for a stay on the order and asked the commission to initiate a fresh appointment process within a fortnight from the date of the results of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.
The bench, constituted by the high court chief justice on a direction of the Supreme Court, had heard 350 petitions and appeals relating to the selection of candidates for appointment by the SSC in the categories of teachers of classes 9, 10, 11 and 12 and group-C and D staffers through the SLST-2016.
In its 282-page judgment, the high court had said retaining appointees selected through "such a dubious process" would be contrary to public interest.
