K'taka govt cracks whip against 8 agencies that failed to provide skill education
Bengaluru (PTI): The Karnataka government has cracked the whip against eight project implementing agencies that have failed to provide skill education to candidates even after getting financial aid from the state government under the 'Deen Dayal Grameen Kaushalya Yojana', and instructed officials to blacklist them and file criminal cases immediately.
Sharan Prakash Patil, the Minister for Medical Education, Skill Development and Livelihood in a meeting here on Wednesday expressed his displeasure against the agencies that have failed to implement the Government's ambitious scheme aimed at providing vocational training to those studying diploma, ITI and other job-oriented courses.
He instructed officials to register criminal cases against them in the jurisdictional police stations to review the progress of the National Rural Livelihood Mission. Patil also instructed officials to blacklist errant project implementing agencies (PIA) immediately and to stop issuing tenders to such firms in future.
He directed the officials to recover Rs 74.65 crore with interest from the PIAs for violating the rules of this scheme being implemented jointly by the central and state governments to provide vocational training for candidates studying job-oriented courses in rural and urban areas.
The agencies that have failed to achieve the desired goal will be considered as defaulters and action will be taken against officials who have released funds to these companies, he said.
The Minister asked the officials to collect complete details of some of these agencies that are functioning from other states, and inform the Centre and prevent them from receiving any funds. He also ordered a probe against unqualified agencies promising to provide training by giving false information and warned of strict disciplinary action against officials if they fail to act.
Pulling up the officials over laxity in implementing the scheme, Patil warned of strict action against them.
''The concerned officials must visit the training centres at the district and taluk levels every month and review the progress. And the lower-rung officials must submit reports to the senior officers. I will be holding monthly meetings to review the progress and will not hesitate to act against those showing laxity,'' warned the Minister.
The scheme was started on September 25, 2014 on the 98th birth anniversary of Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya in a launch by the Prime Minister to help unemployed youth find jobs and achieve something on their own.
This scheme is being implemented by the Skill Development, Entrepreneurship and Livelihood department and aimed at providing free vocational training or skill education to youth aged 18 to 35 years from across the country and help them get employed in the private sector.
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Governor's move an insult to assembly, will protest his unconstitutional action: CM Siddaramaiah
Bengaluru: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has criticised Governor Thawar Chand Gehlot for not skipping the Cabinet-approved address and reading his version of the address at the first joint session of the year, alleging that the move violated constitutional provisions and amounted to an insult to the elected legislature.
Karnataka Governor Thawar Chand Gehlot addressed the joint session of the state legislature on Thursday, but read only three lines of the government’s prepared speech before leaving the House. A day earlier, he had refused to address the session.
Speaking to reporters at Vidhana Soudha on Thursday on the Governor’s shortened address to both Houses of the legislature, he said, “As per the Constitution, it is the Governor’s duty to address the joint session held at the beginning of every year and when a new government is formed.”
He said that under Articles 176 and 163 of the Constitution, the Governor is required to read the address prepared by the Cabinet, a practice that has been followed since the Constitution came into force.
“By delivering a speech drafted by himself, the Governor had violated constitutional provisions and insulted the Assembly of elected representatives,” the Chief Minister alleged.
The Chief Minister highlighted that the Congress party and the state government would protest what he termed an unconstitutional act and that agitations had been planned across the state.
He alleged that the Governor had acted as the “puppet” of the Centre, accusing the Central government of using the Governor to deliver a different address to cover up its own failures, and said the Governor had not fulfilled his constitutional duty.
He further alleged that the Centre had repealed the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act and introduced a new scheme called ‘VB-G RAM G’, a move strongly opposed by the state government. He said the first step taken by the Centre was to remove Mahatma Gandhi’s name from the Act.
Recalling the Congress-led UPA government’s initiatives, Siddaramaiah said that during Manmohan Singh’s tenure as Prime Minister in 2005, landmark legislations such as the Right to Food, Right to Information, Right to Education and Right to Employment were implemented in line with constitutional principles.
He added that the employment guarantee programme, aimed at providing at least 100 days of work to the rural poor, continues to benefit Dalits, labourers, women and small farmers.
He claimed that under the Centre’s new Act, job security for beneficiaries had been weakened, particularly affecting women and Dalits, who together formed a large share of those employed under the earlier scheme. He said the previous law allowed small farmers to take up work on their own land and ensured employment throughout the year, which was the government’s responsibility.
Siddaramaiah alleged that under the new arrangement, poor workers would be required to work at locations decided by the Central government. He also pointed out that earlier, Gram Sabha’s and Panchayats had the authority to prepare employment action plans, but this decentralised decision-making process had been removed under the new Act.
