From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network

Bangalore, July 6: Undeterred by the failure to get Presidential assent for its Karnataka Prevention of Slaughter and Preservation of Cattle Bill, 2010, the BJP Government in the State has now decided to constitute Go-Seva Ayog (Cattle Conservation Commission) to protect and promote cattle wealth in the State.

Addressing the media after the State Cabinet meeting presided over by Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda, Primary and Secondary Education Minister Visveswara Hegde Kageri said the Government has decided to constitute Go-Seva Ayog to take care of cattle, protect and promote various breeds of cattle.

Both Houses of the State Legislature have already passed the Karnataka Prevention of Slaughter and Preservation of Cattle Bill, 2010, which is still awaiting the President’s assent.

The President’s office has sent back the Bill to the State Government asking for small changes in the Bill.

After making the changes in accordance with the observations by the Rashtrapathi Bhavan, the Bill has been submitted to the President’s assent again, he said. The State Cabinet, he said, has decided to implement the proposed Yettinahole water project to supply drinking water to Kolar and Chikballapur, Tumkur and Ramangaram districts.

The total estimated cost of the project is a whopping Rs 8,323 crore. In the first phase, the Cabinet decided to release Rs 3,269 crore.

The project aimed to supply water from Yettinahole, a tributary of the Dakshina Kannada district’s Netravathy river, to drought prone districts. The Yettinahole tributary originates in Sakleshpur taluk in Hassan district.

The State Cabinet has given administrative approval for establishing Ekalavya Residential School at a  village in Koratagere of Tumkur district  at a cost of Rs 9.96 crore; Rs 21.9 crore for drainage works in Tumkur City; and Rs 17 crore for Chikka Devaraja canal works at Srirangapatna in Mandya.

The Minister said the State Cabinet has decided to ask the Karnataka Backward Class Commission conduct a survey to identify communities in Scheduled Caste, Schedule Tribe and other backward classes who have been denied benefits of reservation in elections to taluk and zilla panchayats.

This is being done as only a few communities in these categories been receciving benefits of the quota system in TPs and ZPs.