Land allotted to RSS and its affiliates by previous BJP govt will be reviewed: Min Dinesh Gundu Rao
Bengaluru (PTI): The Karnataka government will review the largesse of the previous BJP government in allotting 'hundreds of acres of land' to RSS and its affiliated organisations, Karnataka Health and Family Welfare Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao said on Friday.
He also said a few tenders issued by the BJP government have been cancelled while others will be looked into.
The functioning of the health and family welfare department, its officers and doctors and the measures taken to ensure sound public health will be discussed in a meeting next week, Rao added.
"Hundreds of acres of government land in the state have been transferred in the name of RSS and Sangh Parivar affiliated organisations," the minister said in a press conference.
According to him, the purpose behind such allotment was to help these organisations grow and with that its ideologies should also grow.
"This (allotment of land) should not happen. One should inform everything to the people. Nothing should be kept secret. People should know. Taking everything in one way is not proper. So we have to take steps," the minister added.
When asked whether the government has taken any steps yet, Rao said he cannot say anything about the steps taken at this juncture but he pointed out that the Congress government has to do it.
"It should happen at the government level where the revenue department and the chief minister have to see what has happened and how it has happened. They have to decide after seeing whether it has been done lawfully and for what price it has been allotted because these are all legal matters," he explained.
To a question about the BJP claiming that there is a witch hunt against its cadres, Rao alleged that the objective of that party was to meddle with history, create rift among people, and spread hatred, which they were doing at every level, be it in textbooks, or appointing such people in various organisations and allotting government land to RSS and its affiliated organisations.
The minister also said that he has convened a meeting where many decisions will be taken.
He added that the Congress government cancelled a few tenders such as the 108-Ambulance tender and the dialysis contract.
"There are other issues as well, such as the functioning of our department, officers and doctors and taking care of public health. Preventive measures will also be looked into," Rao said.
He also explained that some policy matters related to his department will be discussed with the experts to improve the existing system to provide quality treatment to people.
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Assam to lift all cases against Koch Rajbongshis in Foreigners' Tribunals: CM Himanta Biswa Sarma
Guwahati, Apr 4 (PTI): The Assam cabinet has decided to lift all cases pending against people from the Koch Rajbongshi community in the Foreigners' Tribunals, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Friday.
They will also no longer carry the tag of 'D' or doubtful voters, he said.
''There are 28,000 cases pending in different Foreigners' Tribunals in the state against people of the community. The cabinet has taken a historic decision of lifting the cases with immediate effect,'' Sarma said at a press conference here after the cabinet meeting.
The government believes that the Koch Rajbongshis are an indigenous community of the state and they are an inextricable part of ''our social and cultural fabric'', he asserted.
The people of this community are poor and have suffered a lot over the years, he said.
''They will no longer carry the tag of foreigners or ‘D’ voters,'' the CM said.
Foreigners Tribunals are quasi-judicial bodies, particularly in Assam, established to determine if a person residing in India is a "foreigner" as defined by the Foreigners Act of 1946, based on the Foreigners (Tribunals) Order of 1964.
These tribunals are designed to address matters related to citizenship and the presence of “foreigners” in India, specifically focusing on cases where someone is suspected of being an illegal immigrant.
There are 100 Foreigners’ Tribunals across Assam.
The Koch Rajbongshis have a sizeable presence in Assam, West Bengal, Meghalaya, and parts of Bangladesh, Nepal, and Bhutan, and they demand Scheduled Tribe status.
