K B Koliwad set to become State Assembly Speaker
From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network
Bengaluru, Jul 4: Senior Congress MLA from Ranebennur, K B Koliwad, is all set to become the next Speaker of Karnataka Legislative Assembly on Tuesday.
Koliwad was the lone MLA to file his nomination papers for the post of the Speaker on Monday to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Kagodu Thimmappa to become the Revenue Minister in the Siddaramaiah ministry.
Koliwad, Chairman of the House committee to study lake encroachments, will be the 20th Speaker of the Lower House.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Ministers T B Jayachandra, Kagodu Thimmappa, B Ramanath Rai, Roshan Baig and others were present when Koliwad submitted papers to the Assembly Secretary S Murthy.
Akrama-Sakrama regularisation by December, says Kagodu
Regularisation of unauthorised houses constructed on government or revenue lands in urban and rural areas across the State would be completed by the end of December, Revenue Minister KagoduThimmappa told the Legislative Assembly on Monday.
The minister hinted at a further cut in the penalty amount paid by residents for regularisation of houses as part of the Akrama-Sakrama scheme.
Under the ‘Akrama-Sakrama scheme, the State Government has fixed the penalty amount to be paid by residents who constructed houses unauthorisedly on government lands on the peripheral limits of urban areas and rural areas.
The penalty amount has now been fixed at Rs 10,000 for regularisation of house constructions built on 20x30 sq.ft. sites in urban areas, while the amount has been fixed at Rs, 2000, Rs 4,000 and Rs 6,000 for houses constructed on 30x40 sq.ft., 40x60 sq.ft.and 50x80 sq.ft. in rural areas, respectively.
In a reply to a question by V Sunil Kumar of BJP, the Minister said Village Accountants and Revenue Inspectors would be directed to regularise houses.
There was no necessity of conducting a survey, he said explaining that based on maps, the Village Accountants and Panchayat Development Officers would be asked to regularise illegal constructions on government lands before December end.
At present, in urban areas, 50 per cent discount in the penalty has been offered to owners of houses belonging to Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribes and ex-servicemen. These families have to pay only Rs 5,000 per regularisation of constructions in urban areas.
Bengaluru City legislators urged the Government to increase the dimension of regularisation in the BBMP limits.
To regularise constructions of dwelling houses in government lands in urban and rural areas, the Karnataka Land Revenue Act 1964 has been amended and new sections 94 CC and 94C, respectively, had been inserted in the Act.
The decision to regularisation of constructions on government/revenue lands and reduction of penalty would benefit lakhs of households across the State.