Aided school teachers may get group insurance cover

Decision after consulting Finance dept, says Kageri

The State government is considering providing a group insurance facility to teachers of aided schools, Minister for Primary Education Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri said on Friday.

Replying to a question from Y A Narayanaswamy (Ind) in the Legislative Council, the minister said a decision in this regard would be taken after a discussion with the Finance department.

He said government schoolteachers were eligible for medical bill reimbursement, but several technical problems had hampered the move to extend the benefit to aided schoolteachers.

However, the government would, on humanitarian grounds, consider providing group insurance, he said.

When pointed out that medical bills of government teachers were still pending, Kageri promised to clear them at the earliest.

Panchayat and PDOs

Replying to a question from Shivraj Sajjanar (BJP) seeking information on grants to gram panchayats, Minister for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Jagadish Shettar said the government had decided to enhance the grants for GPs to Rs 15 lakh from the existing Rs eight lakh.

Shettar said grants would be given to panchayats as per the 13th Financial Plan commensurate with their population.

Stating that the enhanced grant would be disbursed in three instalments, he said the grant given to GPs till 2011 was Rs six lakh and it was later enhanced to Rs eight lakh the same year.

When his attention was drawn to nearly 80 per cent of the grant allocated to the GPs being spent on electricity bills, he said pending (electricity) bills worth Rs 400 crore had been waived last year.
He pointed out that pending bills this year totalled Rs 1,000 crore.

Answering a query from Congress member Dayanand, Shettar said the government had issued a circular on January 6, 2012, mandating that all panchayat development officers should stay in their respective panchayats.

Stern action

The circular was aimed at ensuring that PDOs are available round-the-clock, he said adding that serious action would be initiated against officers who violate the order. Shettar also said appointment of PDOs would be completed within two months.

The minister said nearly 67 per cent of vacancies would be filled through direct recruitment and 33 per cent through promotions.

Of the 3,750 vacant posts of PDOs, 2,500 had been filled in 2010.

“We have included 103 additional posts to the existing 1,250. A total of 1,353 posts will be filled within two months. The Karnataka Public Service Commission has been entrusted with the job,” he said. The KPSC recruitment process will also be completed within two months, he added.