BENGALURU: Worried by back-to-back instances of misconduct by police officers, and traps laid by the Lokayukta marring the image of state police and the government, the Siddaramaiah cabinet on Thursday approved the Karnataka Police (Amendment) Bill, 2026. The new Bill, if made an Act, will equip the Police Establishment Board (PEB) to transfer police officers up to the rank of DySP with immediate effect for dereliction of duty, negligence or misconduct.
“In the existing Act, there was no provision to transfer officers within a tenure of two years of their posting in a circle, but the new law will equip the authorities to take immediate action,” Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister HK Patil said at the press briefing.
The amendment proposed that “the government may, after consultation with the Police Establishment Board, transfer an officer before the expiry of his tenure on account of misconduct or gross negligence or an act of moral turpitude...”
Discussion on SIR incomplete
The Cabinet discussion on the proposed Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Karnataka by the Election Commission of India was inconclusive. More information was sought on the role of the state government in the exercise.
Ballots for rural local body polls
The Karnataka Cabinet also approved the Karnataka Gram Swaraj and Panchayat Raj (Amendment) Bill, 2026, to ensure that ballots will be used in elections to rural local bodies, as the same has been proposed for urban local bodies, especially the five corporations under Greater Bengaluru Authority.
OTS to settle Rs 800-crore loan
The Cabinet further approved a settlement scheme of up to Rs 800crore to settle loans of Rs 714crore by beneficiaries who took loans under various schemes under the Karnataka Minority Development Corporation from 2013-14 to 2018-19. About Rs 981crore was to be recovered and now through OTS (One Time Settlement) the opportunity will be given to defaulters to repay loans with interest waiver.
Other approvals
Purchase of civic amenity plots from local bodies at Rs 17.71crore for construction of 5 Maulana Azad Model Schools and 18 hostels under Minority Welfare department
Construction of railway barricades at an estimated cost of Rs 11.65crore to prevent human-wildlife conflict within Nagarahole Tiger Reserve
Scheme to provide total subsidy of Rs 19.18crore to eligible beneficiaries and street vendors for purchasing autos or cars under the Rickshaw Sarathi scheme, and subsidy of Rs 42.84crore to purchase e-vending vehicles under the e-vending scheme in five municipal corporations under GBA jurisdiction