BANGALORE: The Labour Department is working overtime to prepare a reply to an Assembly question that could run into a staggering 2.75 lakh pages.
MLA Tanveer Sait has sought details about vocational training institutes, which he says are misusing the government’s grants and stipends.
The reply to be given to Sait, also a former Labour Minister, would be the most expensive ever if provided on paper.
It would cost the government more than `5 crore to provide hard copies to all 224 members in the Assembly Officials are wondering whether to give their reply in print or on CDs.
“We are seeking details from all districts and may need many months to prepare the answer,” an official said. Sait said he wanted the details to expose institutions that exist only on paper.
“This racket has to be busted,” he said.
The department gets `683 crore, in addition to grants from the Central government, and it should be made accountable, he urged.
Sait told Express Karnataka has 158 government industrial training institutes (ITIs), besides 1,926 private and 122 grant-in-aid ITIs.
“A hundred new ITIs are proposed from which about two lakh students will pass out,” he said.
He said state vocational training centres were issuing National Council for Vocational Training certificates to candidates who had not undergone training.
‘No Intention to Embarrass Anyone’
Sait, a ruling party MLA, said his intention was neither to embarrass Labour Minister Parameshwara Naik nor the government.
“I have sought details with a genuine concern to improve the system,” he remarked.
Nothing to Hide, Says Minister
Naik said he had spoken to the MLA and he had “nothing to hide.”
When asked about the delay in ordering a probe into institutions selling certificates, the minister said the relevant files had moved and action would be initiated soon.
Meawhile, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister T B Jayachandra said the State government would go through a report submitted by the Labour Commissioner on an examination scandal and decide on whether a probe was warranted.
Earlier, JD(S) MLC Marithibbe Gowda demanded a CID probe into the scandal.
