Bengaluru (PTI): Police on Friday registered a case against an "unknown person" following a complaint from Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's office over a fake note circulating on social media, which falsely claimed that a district health and family welfare officer in Mandya had been posted as deputy commissioner of excise in Mysuru.
Seeking action against those responsible, the CMO alleged that the act was carried out with malicious intent to bring disrepute to the chief minister and the government.
Siddaramaiah later posted on 'X', saying, "It is a condemnable and very serious crime that some miscreants have created a fake note from my office and circulated it on social media."
Based on the complaint, a case was registered at the Vidhana Soudha police station under Sections 336(3) and 336(4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), relating to forgery, and Section 340(2), regarding forged documents or electronic records and their use as genuine.
In the complaint, Joint Secretary to the Chief Minister (Administration) Arun Furtado stated that a note claiming Dr K Mohan, District Health and Family Welfare Officer, Mandya district, had been posted as Deputy Commissioner of Excise, Mysuru Rural, was being circulated on social media and in certain sections of the media.
The complaint said the note carried no official number or date, had not been registered in the e-office of the chief minister’s secretariat, and had not been forwarded to any department.
No transfer or posting order had been issued based on it.
"Since it has been found that such an act was committed with the malicious intention of bringing a bad name to the chief minister and the government, I am directed to request you to conduct a proper investigation in this regard and identify and take immediate legal action against the culprits," the officer said in the complaint.
Earlier in the day, senior BJP MLA Sunil Kumar cited the fake note circulating on social media to target the government, alleging that the purported transfer was a "classic example" of Siddaramaiah’s administration having "lost track."
Pointing out that officials at his office have filed a complaint and that the police will find the culprits and take legal action, the CM wrote on 'X', "Social media users should be careful before believing and sharing such fake news. In today's Photoshop/AI era, sharing WhatsApp information without verifying its authenticity is also a crime."
"We are open to positive criticism but do not tolerate the spread of false news," the CM added.
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Kolkata (PTI): Ahead of the assembly polls, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that from Saturday unemployed young job seekers, having passed secondary examination (class 10), will receive Rs 1,500 allowance every month to help them move towards a self-reliant future.
The TMC supremo made this announcement - on the eve of International Women’s Day on March 8 - during her speech at the sit-in against large-scale deletion of names of voters by the Election Commission during Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral roll exercise.
She said young men and women - aged 21–40 years - who have passed the secondary exams - will receive Rs 1,500 per month from March 7. Bannerjee said while the assistance was originally scheduled to begin in April, it will now start immediately.
"In the case of Yuva Sathi, all those who are still studying and are not beneficiaries of any schemes other than scholarships will receive the amount. We had earlier stated that the money would be given on April 1. But since tomorrow is International Women's Day, as a gift, we have changed the payment date from April 1 to today (March 7)," she said.
All those aged between 21 and 40 years, numbering around 1 crore people, have applied for this scheme, she said, pointing out these are people who are not beneficiaries of any other schemes except scholarships.
Claiming that her government has generated employment opportunities to a great extent, Banerjee said, "The unemployment rate in Bengal has decreased by 40 per cent. We have provided skill training to at least 40 lakh people, out of which around 10 lakh are already employed.
"This has also happened because we have linked the websites of industrialists with those who have received skill training through Utkarsha Bangla. If migrant workers are interested, they will also be given opportunities. Recently, I heard that around 10,000 people are being trained in the jute industry, and they will also be absorbed into jobs," she said.
The CM said the state is giving Rs 10,000 to farmers every month.
"Even those with just one cottah of land used to receive Rs 4,000 earlier. Now we have also announced Rs 4,000 for landless farmers," she said.
Banerjee said in Bengal, six economic corridors are being constructed to connect the entire state.
"Apart from that, two power plants of 1,600 megawatts (800 megawatts each) are being built in Salboni. We are also number one in IT. More people are employed here than in Bengaluru. Around 200 new companies have also come here.
"Those who defame the state should know that we are number one in small and medium-scale industries. Around 1.5 crore people work in small-scale industries. Units from across the country have come here. In Bengal's leather hub in Bantala, at least 7.5 lakh people work there. Our self-help group women are doing really well. We have created around 12 lakh self-help groups," she said.
Banerjee said around one lakh people will be employed in the large coal reserve in Deucha Pachami in Birbhum district and for the next 100 years, there will be no power cuts in the state.
Bengal's GSDP is the highest even after "repaying Rs 6 lakh crore of debt and paying interest on it and despite Rs 2 lakh crore of central funds still pending," the CM said.
"From GSDP to revenue generation, we are the highest," she claimed.
