Karnataka cabinet gives nod to SIT probe in police recruitment scam
Bengaluru, Mar 14: The Karnataka cabinet on Thursday decided to set up a Special Investigation Team to probe the police sub-inspector recruitment scam.
The decision to form a Special Investigation Team (SIT) was taken on the recommendations of Justice B Veerappa Commission.
Justice Veerappa recently submitted his report on the scam and said that 113 people were involved in it including government officers, employees and some middlemen.
Though some people did not respond to the summons, they gave statements in public but did not appear before the commission, Karnataka Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda told reporters.
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Since the commission does not have power to summon them forcibly, it said that statements of such people should be obtained through another probe, the minister said.
"Based on the suggestions of the Commission, the cabinet has decided to set up an SIT," Gowda said.
According to him, already the Crime Investigation Department (CID) is probing 17 cases, since the commission highlighted more points that need a probe, an SIT was recommended. Gowda clarified that there was no proposal to stop the investigation by the CID as it would lead to confusions.
The PSI recruitment exam was conducted in October 2021. Large scale irregularities in it forced the government to cancel the examination. Several police officers including ADGP Amrit Paul were arrested.
Other details also emerged from the cabinet meeting, said sources.
The Karnataka cabinet expressed its resolve to build a statue of Goddess Bhuvaneshwari', a symbol of Karnataka, on the Vidhana Soudha premises at a cost of Rs 23 crore. A theme based garden will also be developed around the statue, sources said.
It also decided to develop a tree park on 60-65 acres of NGF land in East Bengaluru near KR Puram. The proposed tree park will have a bicycle track, walking track and a playground. It will be developed at an estimated cost of Rs 11 crore, the sources said, adding that each acre in that area costs about Rs 25 crore.
The cabinet has also decided to spend Rs 40 crore to upgrade the Primary Health Centres (PHC) by supplying them equipment, "which were not given to them in the last three to four years", sources said.
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Karnataka govt seeks agency to manage rural drinking water units: Minister
Belagavi (Karnataka) (PTI): Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge on Wednesday said the state government is working to appoint an agency to manage clean drinking water units in rural areas.
The state Rural Development and Panchayat Raj minister was responding to a question by Hirekerur MLA U B Banakar in the legislative assembly.
"In the rural areas of the state, many clean drinking water units have been set up under corporate social responsibility (CSR) grants, including contributions by MLAs and MPs, and handed over to gram panchayats. After the maintenance period, problems have arisen in keeping these units operational," Priyank said.
He added that a proposal has been made to award a maintenance contract to one of the country’s reputed drinking water unit manufacturing companies, but so far, no companies have come forward to take up the work.
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"The government is continuing its efforts and will resolve this problem soon," he said.
On a query regarding fluoride content in water, the minister said water quality testing is being conducted monthly in all zilla panchayats.
"Laboratories have been opened for this purpose. Around 6.5 lakh water samples have been tested across the state, and water testing kits have been provided to villages," he added.
