MLAs demand funds, highlight bureaucratic apathy to Karnataka CM at CLP meeting
Belagavi (Karnataka) (PTI): Demand for development funds for their constituencies and apathy of bureaucrats were among the issues raised by party MLAs during the CLP meeting here, party sources said.
Congress legislators are said to have asserted before the leadership that guarantee schemes alone were not enough, development was also needed, they said on Tuesday.
The meeting chaired by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who is also the leader of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP), was attended by Deputy CM D K Shivakumar, who is the state Congress chief, ministers, and legislators.
During the meeting, some Congress legislators demanded funds for their constituency development, and expressed reservation regarding the functioning of bureaucrats.
Officials sitting on files of MLAs and some corruption allegations were also raised, they added.
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According to sources, the CM promised legislators that out of Rs 50 crore assured per MLA, the money will be released in a phased manner and that he would speak to the Finance Department regarding this.
Siddaramaiah, during the meeting, asked party legislators to effectively counter the opposition's attack against the government on issues concerning north Karnataka, and sugarcane and maize farmers' issue.
The CM told legislators that the central government did not stand by sugarcane and maize farmers. He also accused the BJP of trying to instigate farmers against the state's government, despite its best efforts to provide relief to them.
Apparently, a handout is said to have been given to legislators regarding the Congress government's contribution to north Karnataka and farmers' issues, to counter the opposition, they added.
The meeting took place amid a power tussle within the ruling party and speculations about a change in chief minister in the state, after the Congress government reached the halfway mark of its five-year term on November 20. The speculation was fuelled by an alleged "power-sharing" agreement involving Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar in 2023.
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India submits nomination of Meghalaya's living root bridges for UNESCO World Heritage site
Shillong (PTI): India has submitted to UNESCO in Paris the nomination dossier of Meghalaya's living root bridges for consideration to include in the World Heritage list 2026-27, Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma said on Thursday.
The dossier was handed over by India's Ambassador Vishal V Sharma to UNESCO's World Heritage Centre Director Lazare Assomo Eloundou, a statement said.
"We are hopeful that the living root bridges will be inscribed this year, ensuring that the indigenous communities, the true guardians of this living heritage, receive the global recognition they so richly deserve," Sangma said on X.
While submitting the dossier, Sharma, the Permanent Representative to UNESCO, thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Culture Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and the Meghalaya CM for their support to the nomination, the Permanent Delegation of India to UNESCO said in a statement.
Sharma also acknowledged the role of Meghalaya Principal Secretary Frederick Kharkongor, officers of the Archaeological Survey of India, the Ministry of External Affairs, experts and the local communities in safeguarding the property and preparing the nomination.
Located across the southern slopes of the Khasi and Jaintia Hills of the northeastern state, the nominated property represents a living cultural landscape shaped over centuries by indigenous Khasi and Jaintia communities.
"The landscape reflects a deep-rooted and harmonious relationship between people, nature and spirituality, embodied in traditional systems of land use, governance and ecological stewardship," the statement said.
The indigenous worldview underpinning the cultural landscape is anchored in principles of respect, reciprocity and responsibility towards Mei Ramew (Mother Earth), it said.
"The submission of this nomination underscores India's commitment to recognising and preserving living cultural traditions and indigenous knowledge systems, and to advancing global heritage conservation efforts through UNESCO," the statement added.
