Cabinet waives interest on govt housing scheme loans

Briefing reporters after the Cabinet meeting, Law Minister Suresh Kumar said under the “Nanna Mane Nanna Swathhu” scheme, interest will be waived for families who pay the principal amount on loans borrowed from various boards and corporations for construction of houses by March 31, 2012.  

The total loans pending recovery stand at Rs 2,590 crore.  The government would recover an estimated Rs 1,500 crore, while the interest waiver amount would be around Rs 1,100 crore.

State Litigation Policy

The Cabinet adopted the “Karnataka State Litigation Policy” as a step forward to reduce the number of cases pending in different courts.

The policy focuses on steps to curb avoidable appeals in courts, transparency in appointment of government advocates besides improving infrastructure in courts.
Every state will also have to come out with a “State Litigation Policy” as a precondition for implementing the 13th Finance Commission recommendations.

The State will be getting Rs 269 crore in its first installment for improving judicial services from the Centre.

Special driving schools

Suresh Kumar said the government plans to reduce pending cases by starting evening courts and gram nyayalayas.  The state first gram nyayalaya is functioning in Gauribidanur and will be soon extended to 20 districts, he said.

The increase of accidents on highways and districts especially involving buses and trucks has prompted the state government to open specialised driving schools for heavy vehicles in Bangalore and Dharwad.

The State Cabinet which met in Bangalore on Thursday gave administrative approval for setting up the driving schools at a cost of Rs 12 crore each.

Briefing reporters after the Cabinet meeting, Law Minister Suresh Kumar said driving schools to be set up under Public Private Partnership (PPP) model will provide training courses for heavy vehicle licence holders and seekers.

In Bangalore, a 10 acre plot has been identified at Singayanahalli for establishing the school. Under the PPP model, the government will provide infrastructure at the schools, while the private player will provide the training facilities. “We will soon decide whether to make it mandatory to obtain training from these schools for heavy vehicle licence”, Kumar said.

Urban transport

The Cabinet gave its nod for implementing the centrally aided Sustainable Urban Transport project for Mysore. Under the Rs 19 crore project 500 city service buses in Mysore will be fitted with Global Positioning System (GPS) devices. Passenger information system of buses at bus stands would be displayed on electronic display systems put up at the stops, he said. The system would be installed at 105 bus stops and six bus terminals.

In another project termed Innovative Environment System, government buses plying inside Mysore city will only use bio-diesel.

 Other Cabinet decisions

- Approved 100 acre in Thippasandra village in Magadi taluk for setting up Sanskrit University.
- Approved 103 acre land for BMM Ispat through KIADB for setting up a steel plant
- Revised AICTE pay scale to teaching staff of government ayurveda, unani & homeopathy medical colleges
-  Administrative approval to providing water supply to Byagadi town and en route villages from Tungabhadra river at a cost of Rs 28.05 crore
-  Administrative approval to provide water supply to Sagar town and enroute villages from backwaters of Sharavathi river at a cost of Rs 54.86 crore.
-  Allotment of two acres in Varthur hobli to Sri Krishna Seva Ashrama to set up a 80-bedded hospital.
-  Rs 35 crore to improve 78 km of roads including the 10-km Virajpet-Baindur stretch.
-  50 per cent subsidy for 1,500 weavers to purchase two powerlooms.