Decision on free bus passes to students within a week: Minister
Bengaluru, July 18: Transport Minister DC Thammanna said that he would shortly meet Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy and discuss issuing free bus passes to schools and college students.
Speaking to reporters at his officer at Vidhana Soudha here on Wednesday, the Minister said that Primary and Secondary Education Minister N Mahesh has already said that he would pay 25 per cent amount from the department for the free bus passes. The Transport department would pay 25 per cent amount and if the government paid remaining 50 per cent amount, the department would give free bus passes to all students. The CM was in New Delhi and soon after his return, he would discuss the issue and finalise it, he said.
He, along with the Education Minister would meet the Chief Minister and take a decision on issuing the free bus passes. The department would have burden of Rs 2000 crore if the free bus passes were distributed, he said.
Proposal to hike bus fare
Following diesel price hike, the department has a proposal to hike the bus fare of KSRTC, BMTC and other corporations by 20 per cent. But so far, no decision was taken. All transport corporations including KSRTC and BMTC have to pay the tax on diesel. With this, the state government would have around Rs 6000 crore revenue. Now, he would request the Chief Minister for Rs 1000 crore funds, he said.
Proposal for cess
The BBMP has been collecting cess for the development of roads and other infrastructure. On the same line, the government should take a decision to collect transportation cess. The BMTC has been striving hard to ensure good service to the people, he said.
Direct appointment
There were 400 posts were vacant in the department and a decision would be taken shortly on recruiting those posts through direct recruitment. Due to shortage of RTOs and traffic inspectors, the existing staff have to look after two-three offices, he said.
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Sanjay Raut demands re-election, alleges irregularities in EVMs during Maharashtra polls
Mumbai, Nov 25: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Monday demanded a re-election in Maharashtra using ballot papers, claiming there were irregularities with the electronic voting machines (EVMs).
Talking to reporters, Raut alleged several complaints about EVMs malfunctioning and questioned the integrity of the recently held elections.
The BJP-led Mahayuti won 230 out of 288 seats in the assembly elections, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi managed 46 seats, with Shiv Sena (UBT) winning just 20 out of 95 seats it contested.
"We have received nearly 450 complaints regarding EVMs. Despite raising objections repeatedly, no action has been taken on these issues. How can we say these elections were conducted fairly? Hence, I demand that the results be set aside and elections be held again using ballot papers," Raut said.
Citing some instances, he said a candidate in Nashik reportedly received only four votes despite having 65 votes from his family, while in Dombivli, discrepancies were found in EVM tallies, and election officials refused to acknowledge the objections.
The Sena (UBT) leader also questioned the credibility of the landslide victories of some candidates, saying, "What revolutionary work have they done to receive more than 1.5 lakh votes? Even leaders who recently switched parties have become MLAs. This raises suspicions. For the first time, a senior leader like Sharad Pawar has expressed doubts about EVMs, which cannot be ignored."
Asked about the MVA's poor performance in the elections, Raut rejected the idea of blaming a single individual.
"We fought as a united MVA. Even a leader like Sharad Pawar, who commands immense respect in Maharashtra, faced defeat. This shows that we need to analyse the reasons behind the failure. One of the reasons is EVM irregularities and the misuse of the system, unconstitutional practices, and even judicial decisions left unresolved by Justice Chandrachud," he said.
Raut stressed that though internal differences might have existed within the MVA, the failure was collective.
He also accused the Mahayuti of conducting the elections in an unfair manner.
"I cannot call the elections fair given the numerous reports of discrepancies in EVMs, mismatched numbers, and vote irregularities across the state," Raut said.
