Cabinet okays rules for recruiting civic workers

The state Cabinet on Wednesday gave its approval for rules framed for recruitment-cum-regularisation of 11,000 pourakarmikas (civic workers) in Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) limits and other urban local bodies across the state.

Briefing reporters after the Cabinet meeting, Law Minister T B Jayachandra said it was also decided that the state government will make direct payment of salaries to the outsourced pourakarmikas. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in June this year had announced regularisation of 11,000 outsourced pourakarmikas in the next three months after they struck work.

There are a total of 35,000 outsourced pourakarmikas in the state and the government will make direct payment of their salaries (Rs 17,000 per month). The salary for regularised pourakarmikas has been fixed at Rs 25,000 per month, Jayachandra said. The move will cost the exchequer Rs 426 crore per annum.

7 mining cases to SIT

The Cabinet also ratified a decision taken by the state government on June 6 this year to refer seven illegal mining cases, including the Janthakal Enterprises case in which former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy is an accused, to the Lokayukta Special Investigation Team (SIT).

Jayachandra said the government had referred all cases in the two reports submitted by the former Lokayukta Justice Santhosh Hegde to the SIT. However, some of the accused had obtained a stay on seven cases.

The Supreme Court recently directed the SIT to go ahead with investigation of these cases too and hence the ratification, Jayachandra said.

Kumaraswamy, during his tenure as chief minister, had allegedly given permission to extend the lease to Janthakal Enterprises for extracting iron ore from Chitradurga district in violation of rules.

Council should continue 

The Cabinet gave its approval for a submission before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice that status quo should be maintained on the functioning of Legislative Councils. The panel had sought the opinion of Karnataka along with other states on relevance of Legislative Councils.

In another decision, the Cabinet decided to establish 10 model residential first grade colleges for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in 10 educationally backward districts at a cost of Rs 25 crore.

Model colleges

The model colleges will come up in Kolar, Chitradurga, Hassan, Chamarajanagar, Kalaburagi, Raichur, Vijayapura, Yadgir, Koppal and Bidar, Jayachandra said.
DH News Service