Bengaluru: Ministers rule out lockdown extension; BS Yediyurappa to decide today

BENGALURU: Karnataka CM BS Yediyurappa will decide on extension of the lockdown in Bengaluru Urban and Rural districts on Tuesday after meeting ministers and officers, according to medical education minister K Sudhakar.
The CM held discussions with colleagues and officers on the Covid situation on Monday, but the lockdown subject was not on the agenda.
However, sources claimed that officers and ministers offered two suggestions in the course of the meeting: Extend the lockdown till Sunday or impose curfew from 7pm to 5am and reintroduce Sunday curbs after the lockdown ends on Wednesday morning.
Earlier in the day, revenue minister R Ashoka had ruled out extension of the lockdown. Sudhakar, too, said, “During meeting, we had no discussions on lockdown measures. Since there was no discussion, then it must be understood that there’s no extension of the same.”
Legislators, officers invited to meeting
Yediyurappa will hold a zonal-level meeting on Wednesday and Thursday, and legislators and officers have been invited to the meeting to get feedback before making a final announcement, sources added.
Those who attended the meeting on Monday included health minister B Sriramulu, home minister Basavaraj Bommai and the eight zonal in-charge ministers appointed to contain the surge in coronavirus cases in Bengaluru.
Government to bear cost of paying docs under NHM
To ease medical practitioners’ woes, the Karnataka government has decided to bear the complete cost of paying doctors under the National Health Mission (NHM). Minister K Sudhakar said the government will pay them under the revised pay scale of Rs 45,000 per month for the next six months, after which a tripartite agreement will be struck among doctors, the Centre and the state. Salaries of the NHM doctors are yet to be released as the Centre pays 60% of the wages and the state the rest.