GPH Foundation Signs MoU to Build 6000 Houses at Rs 75 cr
From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network - Bangalore
Bangalore, May 11: The Govind Prasad Humanitarian Foundation (GPHF) has entered into a memorandum of understanding with Karnataka government to build 6000 houses under its Asare programme in the flood affected districts of north Karnataka at a cost of Rs 75 crore.
Karnataka chief minister B S Yeddyurappa and state revenue minister Gali Karunakara Reddy were present when state government’s revenue department secretary K S Prabhakar and Govind Prasad, chairman and managing trustee of GPHF singed the MoU.
The foundation had earlier singed a MoU to build 540 houses at Harappanahalli.
As per the MoU, the foundation would construct 667 houses in Belgaum district, 2557 houses in Raichur, 982 houses in Bagalkot, 510 houses in Koppal, and 480 houses in Davangere district.
The chief minister warmly appreciated the initiative of the Foundation in helping the state government in its programme for construction of houses. ``The State Government would support the efforts of Foundation,” Yeddyurappa said.
No Grant-in-aid to new ITIs in State from 2010-11:
Karnataka’s Labour Minister B N Bache Gowda, at a separate news conference, declared that the state government has decided against sanctioning grant-in-aid to new industrial training institutes (ITIs) from this financial year (2010-11).
Instead, the minister said the government would be releasing student-based funds to new institutes. The government would release annually Rs. 6,000 per student to each new institute that would offer different trades from the current financial year.
The department has received many proposals from various institutes seeking permission to set up ITIs. Bache Gowda said about 1,000 institutes both in the private and government sector were offering various trades in the state.
The State will have 3,000 institutes in the next three years. There were 146 government institutes. The current intake of various institutes is about 1.35 lakh a year
The student-based fund to institutes would enhance the quality of training as well as imparting of skills to students.
Apart from providing land and student-based funds, the department would reimburse 25 % the total investment occurred by the private institutions to set up an ITI on public private partnership model, he said.
Skill development centres have been offering courses ranging from three to six months in 114 backward taluks indentified by a High Power Committee on Redressal of Regional Imbalances headed by late D M Nanjundappa.
The Central government would release Rs 1.5 crore annually to each centre which have been operating in some taluks. The department has proposed to start 563 such centres in the State, he added.
The department has proposed to open 158 Centres of Excellence for skill development of the unemployed education youth. The cost of each centre would be Rs two crore, the minister said.
Referring to the health insurance of employees in the organised sector, he said about 21 lakh employees in the State are eligible to avail the facility under the Employees State Insurance (ESI) in the State following the Centre’s decision to increase the income limit of employees from Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000 per month.
Nearly 50 % of the doctors’ posts were vacant in ESI hospitals in the State, he said adding that eight ESI hospitals and 108 dispensaries were operating in the State.