Eight Bills were passed in the Legislative Assembly on Wednesday amid protest by Opposition BJP members against the constitution of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe into the controversial audio clip.
The protest continued after a meeting convened by Speaker K.R. Ramesh Kumar failed to arrive at a consensus and the BJP stuck to its stand that the SIT probe cannot be unbiased and wanted a probe by a House committee or a judicial commission. As the government reiterated its stand on conducting the SIT probe, BJP members trooped into well of the House, shouted slogans against the government and termed the move as “dictatorial”.
The Assembly passed the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Karnataka Amendment) Bill, 2019, for acquisition of land for various mega projects in Karnataka.
The Bill was based on the Centre’s Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013. Five States have passed their own Acts based on the 2013 law for expediting land acquisition.
The Karnataka Debt Relief Bill, 2018, was also passed. It envisages providing relief to small farmers, landless farm labourers, and those from weaker sections who are facing financial crisis.
The Karnataka State Civil Services (Regulation of Transfer of Teachers) (Amendment) Bill, 2018, was passed to reduce the duration of service for transfer from five years to three in some special cases. The Basavakalyan Development Board (Amendment) Bill, 2019, was passed to separate Basavakalyan Urban Development Authority functions from the board.
Several education-related Bills too were passed: The R.V. University Bill, 2019; The Adichunchanagiri University (Amendment) Bill, 2019; The NIE University Bill, 2019; and the Karnataka State Universities (Amendment) Bill, 2019.
The Karnataka State Universities (Amendment) Bill, 2019, was passed to establish the Maharani Cluster University, Bengaluru, for pooling the resources of three women’s colleges in Bengaluru — Maharani’s Science College for Women; Maharani’s Women Arts, Commerce, and Management College; and VHD Central Institute of Home Science — by separating these institutes from Bengaluru Central University. The Bill also proposes to establish Mandya University.