Senior Cong leader Veerappa Moily asks Karnataka govt to release caste census report
Bengaluru (PTI): Senior Congress leader M Veerappa Moily on Tuesday asked the Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to release the report of the caste census conducted in the State.
Moily, a former Union Law Minister, noted the caste census was conducted by the then Karnataka State Backward Classes Commission under the chairmanship of H Kantharaj during the previous tenure of Siddaramaiah as Chief Minister (2013-2018) and it had later submitted the report.
"And the report was available with both during the tenure of (H D) Kumaraswamy, (B S) Yediyurappa and (Basavaraj) Bommai as Chief Minister (between 2018 and 2023). That means they (JDS and BJP) are not for that (releasing the report), it was very clear," Moily told PTI.
"Whenever the Congress government comes (to power), we are very anxious to serve the interests of the backward classes," said the former Karnataka Chief Minister, who was asked if he wants the state government to release the report, similar to what the Nitish Kumar administration did in Bihar on Monday.
Moily recalled that he had released the report of the Chinnappa Reddy Commission in 1992 when he was the Chief Minister even though the report of the panel constituted by the previous Ramakrishna Hegde regime (Janata Party) was ready during the latter's tenure at the helm itself.
"I am asking Siddaramaiah to release the report immediately," he said. "Now that the Congress government has come to power and Siddaramaiah has become CM, he has to release the report."
If there are "problems" regarding "injustice" (to some communities) in the report, Siddaramaiah can take the course of rectification after releasing it, Moily said, adding, the Chief Minister should not cite technical reasons for not making it public.
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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
