NREGA funds:Unhappy Siddu to write to Modi

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday said he would write to Prime Minister Narendra Modi against the possible cut in funds sanctioned to the State under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).

Replying to media queries on his arrival at the Hotel Lalith Mahal Palace helipad here, Siddaramaiah said, “I have got information about the possibility of a slash in the annual funds sanctioned under the NREGA up to 50 per cent. While other states have been informed in writing, the Karnataka government is yet to be officially notified in this regard.”

Terming the six-month governance of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance at the Centre as a failure, he said Modi had failed to keep his promise on bringing back black money stashed abroad by Indians. On the Supreme Court ruling on the medium of instruction, Siddaramaiah said the government would file another petition.

The government is committed to making Kannada mandatory in the primary level of education and unfortunately the court order overrules it. On the forthcoming winter session of the Legislative Assembly at Belagavi, the chief minister said there was no specific agenda as such.

The session will focus on the issues pertaining to North Karnataka and the Bills to be passed during the period. The Cabinet will be expanded after the session, he said.

Ration card holders chart

To weed out bogus ration card holders, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday directed the Food and Civil Supplies department to take stern measures by instructing fair price shops to display a chart containing the names and types of card holders under their purview.

Shops that don’t fall in line will lose their licence and face criminal cases for abetting bogus card holders.

Addressing a gathering at the Government High School grounds at Varuna, where he launched and dedicated works of various departments, besides holding a janasamparka sabhe, the chief minister directed Deputy Commissioner C Shikha and senior Deputy Director of the Food and Civil Supplies department K Rameshwarappa to ensure that all shops follow the rule.

By taking such steps, genuine card holders can be identified and bogus card holders, who are not entitled to food grains from fair price shops, can be segregated. It is applicable to all the districts, he said.

Siddaramaiah said the department was holding a ‘Food Adalat’ on the seventh of every month in the interest of the card holders.

Saying that the government was spending Rs 4,800 crore annually on the Ksheera Bhagya scheme (under which schoolchildren get milk thrice a week), the chief minister said it would be extended to five days a week from the next academic year.