No Fine For Regularising Houses in Rural Areas?

BENGALURU: The state government will consider not charging penalty for regularisation of houses constructed on revenue land in rural areas, Revenue Minister Srinivasa Prasad assured the Legislative Council on Saturday. He said this will benefit the poor, those who belong to SC/ST communities, the physically challenged and ex-servicemen.

He said this after tabling of the Karnataka Land Revenue (Amendment) Bill 2015, popularly known as 94C Act.

The state government was planning to levy 10 and 20 per cent of the guidance value as  regularisation fee for houses constructed in 20 X 30 and 50 x 80 feet dimension respectively for non-SC/ST communities and 5 per cent for reserved categories.

He also assured the House that the government would considering levying a lumpsum amount instead of portion of the guidance value as penalty.

Maintaining that the move would help the thousands, who have built houses on revenue land and are facing uncertainty over ownership, he said that “the Act would facilitate the authorities to issue title deeds”.

While welcoming amendment to the Act, Congress members Pratapchandra Shetty, Allamaprabhu Patil and Iwan D’Souza appealed to the minister to enhance the extent of land to be regularised from the present 50 X 80 feet dimension especially in the Malnad and Coastal districts.

The members had also appealed to the Revenue Minister to waive penalties for regularisation of the houses built by the poor.

Responding to the members’ pleas, the Minister made a promise to accommodate these views while framing the rules and guidelines to the amended Act.

Later, the house adopted the Bill by voice vote, in the absence of the opposition BJP and the JD(S) members, who had earlier staged a walkout from the House to protest the tabling of bills without adequate time being given for a detailed debate in the House.

While Opposition BJP leader K S Eshwarappa led his party members in the walkout, JD(S) members trooped out from the House led by their leader Basavaraj Horatti. The House also adopted two other bills — The Karnataka State Motor Vehicle (Special Provisions) Bill 2015 and The Karnataka Transgenic and Genetically modified cotton seeds (fixation of sale price and payment of compensation) Bill 2015.

The House was later adjourned sine die by Chairman D H Shankaramurthy.

Council Chief to be Made Guv? 

Bengaluru: The Centre is learned to have decided to appoint Legislative Council Chairman  D H Shankaramurthy as the Governor of a state. Giving credence to the buzz, just before the Council was adjourned sine die on Saturday, Leader of the House S R Patil congratulated Shankaramurthy in advance. Later, speaking to newsmen, Shankaramurthy neither denied nor confirmed the news. “I also heard about it,” he said. He said that after completion of his term as the Chairman of the House, he plans to settle down at his hometown Shivamogga. “If the party wants, I will not desist from shouldering any responsibility,” he added.

However, Patil reiterated, “As per my knowledge, the Chairman is going to be appointed as the new Governor of Bihar ... Based on reliable sources I sought to compliment the Council Chairman in advance.”