MCI team to inspect six new govt med colleges in Karnataka

B D Narayankar reports

Bangalore, Apr 29 (PTI) A team of Medical Council of
India will visit six new government medical colleges in
Karnataka for inspection in a week's time to take stock of
facilities available for medical students, Medical Education
Minister Sharan Prakash R Patil said today.
        The team would visit the colleges at Gulbarga, Koppal,
Chamrajnagar, Karwar, Madikeri and Gadag, he told reporters
here.
        The state government is unable to increase the quota
of medical seats in its pool as MCI is yet to inspect the six
new medical colleges, Patil said. The government will try its
best to get the MCI nod for the new colleges, he added.
        The recruitment process for the new medical colleges has
already begun and infrastructure work is underway, Patil said.
        The government is also committed to set up six more
medical colleges as announced in this year's state budget, he
said. The colleges will be set up in Tumkur, Chitradurga,
Chickballapur, Bagalkot, Haveri and Yadgir, Patil said.
        Besides, the government plans to set up super-speciality
hospitals in Mysore, Hubli, Gulbarga, Belgaum and Bellary to
make healthcare affordable.
        Lands have been identified in all these districts, except
Yadgir and Chickballapur. "We have directed the deputy
commissioners of these two districts to identify the land," he
added.
        These colleges will be established in collaboration with
the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences, Patil said.

Day-to-day review meetings to address drinking water crisis in Karnataka

B D Narayankar reports

Bangalore, Apr 28 (PTI) Karnataka Government would hold
day-to-day review meetings in districts to discuss the
preparedness of officials to tackle drinking water crisis,
Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Minister H K Patil said
today.
     The meetings would commence from tomorrow in various
districts including Haveri, Belgaum, Davangere, Tumkur,
Chitradurga, Koppala and others, Patil told reporters here.
     He said government had also formed committees to monitor
the situation and asked officials to ensure that no village
faced drinking water scarcity. About Rs 800 crore was
available with the government to tackle drinking water
scarcity. "Funds are not a constraint...," he said.
     He said officials will be held responsible and
disciplinary action initiated against them if they failed to
take immediate steps to ease drinking water problem.
     Patil also instructed higher officials to issue notices
to those officers who were on leave to immediately resume work
to address drinking water problem.
     He said government had pressed into service 702 tankers
in the state to tackle drinking water problem. The government
was also focused on recharging borewells and there were 3,487
borewells pending energising, Patil said. 

Govt to go ahead with formation of new taluks: Karnataka Minister

B D Narayankar reports

Bangalore, April 23 (PTI) Karnataka government has decided to go ahead with the proposal of the previous BJP regime on formation of new taluks, Revenue Minister V Srinivas Prasad said today. 

"We have not dropped the proposal made by the previousJagadish Shettar government on formation of new taluks. We will go ahead to form new taluks," he told reporters here. 

As the principal opposition, Congress had criticised the then BJP government's decision on carving out new taluks, terming it as part of the "election strategy" to woo the electorate during the May 2013 State Assembly elections. 

Government will also consider forming more new taluks apart from 43 new ones proposed by the Shettar government, Prasad said. 

"We have received several new proposals on carving out new taluks from the existing ones," he said. 

"The move is aimed at ensuring effective delivery of public services," he added. Karnataka has 220 taluks. 

Prasad however said before announcing new taluks the Siddaramaiah government wants to put in place basic facilities to taluk administration. 

Government would provide Rs 326 crore assistance to farmers for replanting horticultural crops hit by untimely rains and hailstorms early this month in the state, he said. 

"We have decided to give Rs 40,000 per hectare assistance to farmers, especially in Bagalkot and Bijapur areas, who have been hit by untimely rains and hailstorms. The amount is more than what the Maharashtra government has announced, Rs 25,000 per hectare," he said. 

Government would utilise the fund released from National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) to compensate farmers and others who had suffered crop and property loss, owing to hailstorm. 

The hailstorm had damaged rabi crops, including wheat, pulses, oilseeds and horticultural crops in over two lakh hectares in Yadagir, Gulbarga, Bijapur, Bagalkot, Raichur, Koppal, Tumkur and Chitradurga districts. 

Government had submitted a memorandum to a central study team, which toured the state in March and appealed to the Centre to calculate the financial assistance on the basis of the extent of loss, Prasad said.