40 officials named in mining report suspended

The State government has suspended 40 officials and issued show cause notices to 257 others who have been named in Lokayukta report on illegal mining, Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar said in the Legislative Assembly on Tuesday.

Responding to a question byTanveer Sait (Congress), he said show cause notices have been issued to five IAS officers and one IPS officer, and disciplinary action has been taken against three officials of Mysore Minerals Ltd. Besides, 66 officials have been transferred from Bellary district as recommended in the report. 

Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah and his deputy T B Jayachandra sought to know from the government the amount recovered from officials named in the two reports for causing losses to the exchequer.

“The total loss due to illegal mining is to the tune of Rs 20,000 crore. How much has the government recovered,” he asked.  Shettar said the government had acted on all the recommendations made by the Lokayukta. The Opposition sought a discussion on the issue which was permitted by Speaker K G Bopaiah. The discussion will be taken up on Wednesday or Thursday.