Cabinet fixes 4% cap on transfer of govt employees

The state Cabinet on Friday decided to reduce the cap on the transfer of government employees from the present six per cent to four per cent and complete the entire process by July end.

Briefing reporters after the Cabinet meeting, Law Minister Krishna Byre Gowda said that general transfer of government employees was put on hold due to the Assembly polls. “The process will now commence but it has been decided that there will be four per cent cap on the total number of transfers in each department,” he said.

Incidentally, this is the second meeting of Cabinet after Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy expanded his council of ministers.

The Cabinet gave its approval for state’s share for the second phase of Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) - amounting to Rs 460 crore. The Abhiyan aims at ushering in quality in higher education. The Centre and states fund RUSA in the ratio of 60:40.

In another decision, the Cabinet gave its approval to release Rs 655 crore as the state’s share for the crop insurance scheme - Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana for the year 2018-19. The scheme is equally funded by the Centre and the states in the ratio of 50:50.

Joint session on July 2

Gowda said Governor Vajubhai Vala will address the joint session of the state legislature on July 2 and Kumaraswamy, who also holds the Finance portfolio will present the budget proposal for the remaining part of the financial year 2018-19, on July 5. The session is scheduled to end on July 12.

The Cabinet approved the decision of Governor to nominate senior JD(S) MLC Basavaraj Horatti as pro tem chairman of the Legislative Council. Election to the post of chairman will be held once the House meets. The post of chairman is vacant as the tenure of D H Shankaramuthy ended on Thursday.

Gowda said the Cabinet gave its nod to extend by 10 years, the repayment period for Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) - for the interest-free loan of Rs 333.50 crore provided by the state government. He said BIAL had sought a fresh loan for construction of the second runway and terminal at Kempegowda International Airport. “We could not provide the fresh loan but decided to extend the repayment period of the existing loan,” Gowda added.

The Cabinet gave its approval to provide Rs 115 crore for the second set of uniform to all students studying in government schools. The uniform will be procured and provided by the respective school development and monitoring committees (SDMCs), Gowda said.