BENGALURU: To dent the opposition onslaught over corruption, the cabinet on Monday decided to table the wakf land encroachment report that was submitted to the government in 2012 by the Minority Commission Chairman Anwar Manipady.
In his report, Manipady had pointed out that 29,000 acres of wakf land worth nearly Rs 2.3 lakh crore had been encroached by politicians over the past few decades and successive governments chose to remain mum over the issue. He had also named 12 politicians from the minority community, many of whom from Congress. The cabinet also gave the administrative approval to extend the Vidya Nidhi scheme, which supports children of farmers, to the children of fishermen too.
This had been the demand of Mogaveeras, who are a fishermen community along the coast and are the main support base of BJP.The cabinet also okayed a proposal to provide SC/STs, coming under the BPL bracket, free 75 units of power per month. The government had decided on the freebie in May, but took it up before the cabinet on Monday.
The cabinet approved the withdrawal of nearly 35 cases against pro-Kannada and pro-farmer protesters in different police stations. It is said that the home department has looked into these cases thoroughly. All small and medium coffee growers will get free power to run their irrigation pumpsets of up to 10 HP, which was a long-standing demand. The decision will help farmers in Kodagu, Chikkamagaluru, Hassan, Uttara Kannada and Shivamogga districts.
The cabinet decided to set up a cancer care centre on the Belagavi Health campus at Rs 50 crore. The maintenance and repair work of the pumping station at Harohalli Cauvery Stage 4 Phase 2 will be taken up at a cost of Rs 33.85 crore, considering that the equipment was submerged during the recent floods.