BENGALURU:  Asha health workers are on the warpath again. The devastating coronavirus outbreak and ‘empty promises’ have pushed this all-female army to breaking point. Despite calling off their strike in July after the state government’s assurance that their demands will be met, nothing has materialised till today.Now, the Karnataka Rajya Samyuktha Asha Karyakarthara Sangha, affiliated to the All India United Trade Union Centre, will go on a state-level protest on September 23 at Freedom Park in Bengaluru. ASHA workers have been frontline warriors during the Covid-19 pandemic but are paid only a paltry Rs 4,000 per month while they are demanding Rs 12,000.

 “About 500-600 ASHA workers from Bengaluru, Tumakuru, Chikkaballapur, Doddaballapur and Mysuru will protest on Wednesday,” said Durgesh Prakash, state executive committee member, AIUTUC.Apart from hike in monthly honorarium, their other demands include regular health checkups for all ASHA workers, provision of face masks, hand sanitizers, gloves and PPE kits.

The fact that the government has not even called them for negotiations has left them feeling ignored. Recently, they also submitted memorandums to BBMP Commissioner N Manjunatha Prasad and National Urban Health Mission officer asking that the risk incentive given to nurses, doctors and Group D workers be extended to them. This too elicited no response.

The issue with their payment lies in the incentive component given by the Centre. There are several technical issues on the Central government portal and several times they end up getting less than they had worked for.

demands

B12,000 wages hike
Regular health check
Face masks, gloves, sanitiser
PPE kits

The Ganja was being transported in an Innova car from Andhra Pradesh Kadapa District to Bangalore via Kolar Srinivaspur.

KOLAR: 27.5 kilos of Ganja valued at nearly Rs 14 lakh was seized by a special team of Cyber crime, Economic and Narcotic (CEN) division under the supervision of Kolar Superintendent of Police, Karthick Reddy. 

The Ganja was being transported in an Innova car from Andhra Pradesh’s Kadapa District to Bengaluru via Kolar’s Srinivasapura.

Based on credible information, the vehicle was waylaid by CEN Inspector S R Jagdeesh, his team found the Ganja and arrested a person while the drugs and the car was seized. 

Kolar Superintendent of Police Karthik Reddy said that based on credible information, the car was tracked near Thadi Gol Cross of Srinivasapura taluk, which borders Andhra Pradesh, by a team of officers headed by Jagdeesh and arrested the driver of the vehicle Sheik Abdul (30) a resident of Rayachoti.

Karthick Reddy said during investigation that it was revealed that the Ganja was being transported to Bengaluru from Rayashuti. 

The police is investigating who is behind the situation and to whom exactly it is being transported to. 

Central Range Inspector General of Police Semanth Kumar Singh said, “Two separate teams will be formed, one in Bengaluru to investigate the call records and another will rush to Rayashuti and take up investigation with the help of AP Police.

Semanth Kumar said, in all the six regions in Central Range including KGF, Kolar, Ramanagara, Bengaluru, Hassan and Chikballapura, the Superintendent of Police were instructed to uproot the Ganja menace in their respective regions.

He added that police officers are working to uproot the drug mafia with the help of informers.

In effect, this will allow the state to raise an additional Rs 36,000 crore in loans without violating fiscal discipline under the KFRA. 

BENGALURU: With the Covid-19-induced lockdown severely affecting revenues, the Karnataka Cabinet on Tuesday approved an amendment to the Karnataka Fiscal Responsibility Act (KFRA) to increase the state’s borrowing limit to 5 per cent of GSDP instead of the existing 3 per cent. In effect, this will allow the state to raise an additional Rs 36,000 crore in loans without violating fiscal discipline under the KFRA. 

The State Cabinet has also approved plans to borrow Rs 33,000 crore out of the enhanced borrowing limit which will be spent not just as capital investment, but also as expenditure on development activities that have been stalled due to shortage of funds.  The amendment Bill will be introduced in the upcoming Assembly session. 

The Centre, in May, increased reform-linked borrowing limit for states from 3 per cent to 5 per cent for the 2020-2021 fiscal, anticipating a loss of revenue. “An amendment will be made to Section 4 of the Fiscal Responsibility Act to allow additional borrowing up to 5 per cent of GSDP.

We will borrow Rs 33,000 crore as a one-time measure. Currently, our borrowing is at about Rs 40,000-47,000 crore and an additional Rs 33,000 crore will be fresh loans. We generally borrow only for capital expenditure but this additional loan will be used for development activities too,” Parliamentary Affairs Minister J C Madhuswamy told reporters. He acknowledged that various development activities had been stalled due to dearth of funds, but added that the government had not run out of funds. 

Section 4 of the KFRA deals with Fiscal Management Principles to ensure state debts, guarantees and liabilities are maintained at prudent levels. Three fiscal parameters of the KFRA mandate adequate revenue surplus, total liabilities to be under 25 per cent of GSDP and fiscal deficit to be under 3 per cent of the GSDP. The estimated fiscal deficit for Karnataka for 2020-2021, as per the budget speech, was 2.55 per cent of the GSDP. With the borrowing limit raised to 5 per cent, the state will be able to borrow more without violating fiscal norms.In his 2020-2021 budget speech, Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa had estimated total borrowings at Rs 52,918 crore. But, in the lockdown scenario, the state has opted for additional borrowing.

Sources in the Finance Department told TNIE that despite the additional borrowing, the state may see a considerable loss of receipts. Revenue loss for this fiscal is expected to be more than the additional borrowing.  Minister Madhuswamy said that state will borrow from existing sources. Karnataka usually borrows from the Centre , open market, LIC, NSSF, NCDC, RIDF, etc. With the GST Council too asking states to opt for borrowing to offset losses arising out of GST compensation shortfall, Karnataka has told the council that it would prefer to borrow Rs 11,324 crore through a special window facilitated by the GST Council from the RBI at a reasonable rate of interest (yet to be fixed). Under this option, the principle and interest repayment will come out of compensation cess after 2022 when the first five years of the GST regime ends. A final decision on this is pending since other states have opposed the GST Council’s suggestion.

MYSURU: While Mysuru missed out on the opportunity to have its own film city, attempts are being made to start a film institute at Vishnuvardhan’s memorial on the outskirts of the city.

Anirudh, actor and son-in-law of late actor Vishnuvardhan, said that there is a plan to start a branch of the prestigious Film and Television Institute of India (FTII)- Pune next to that of Vishnuvardhan’s memorial.

“This project will help many films enthusiasts, aspirants, and budding artistes to learn the art of film making. In addition to this, an auditorium will also be constructed to conduct film and theatre festivals, besides providing quality training,” he said.

Meanwhile, the long-pending demand of Vishnuvardhan’s memorial in Mysuru is finally taking shape after a struggle for over 11 years. The foundation stone for the construction will be laid by Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa virtually on September 15, while a formal event will be held at Halalu village near Udbur on the outskirts of Mysuru, where the state government has sanctioned five-and-a-half-acre of land.

A six-feet tall statue of Vishnuvardhan will be constructed on a two-acre land. In addition to this, a museum with a collection of rare photographs of the late actor will be made available to the public.

Vishnuvardhan, who grew up in Mysuru, had a special place in his heart for the heritage city and wanted to establish a film institute here. His known circles also said that the actor had batted for a state-of-the-art film school or institute in Mysuru which would help thousands of film aspirants across the region and the state.