BENGALURU: The State Cabinet on Wednesday approved the appointment of an additional registrar for Karnataka Lokayukta, besides filling vacancies to ensure speedy trial of cases by the investigative agency. The decision comes weeks after the state’s Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) was scrapped by the Karnataka High Court and all the cases being probed by the ACB were transferred to the Lokayukta.
The Lokayukta had sought additional staff to deal with the increased burden of cases. The Cabinet also took a decision to increase the salary of the Lokayukta on par with the salary of the Chief Justice of Karnataka.
Among other decisions, the Cabinet gave its nod for a revised estimation of Rs 862.37 crore allocation to complete the construction of warehouses and to strengthen infrastructure. The project has been taken up by the Karnataka State Warehousing Corporation.
The Cabinet decided to extend the lease period of government-run Kannada medium schools in Bengaluru which are housed in private buildings. Under the Centre’s Jal Jeevan Mission, approval was given for the implementation of drinking water projects in Periyapatna at a cost of Rs 350 crore, Sagara (Rs 127 cr), Belagavi and Ramadurga (Rs 439 cr), K R Nagara (Rs 12.74 cr) and Nippani (Rs 49 cr) taluks.
The Cabinet also approved Rs 26.21 crore for the construction of a Railway Over Bridge (ROB) between Hospet-Kariganur stations on Hubballi-Ballari route and Rs 41.59 crore for a Railway Under Bridge (RUB) between Dharwad-Kyarakoppa on Hubballi-Londa route.