K'taka: Trust vote advanced to Nov 19

Bangalore, Nov 13: The BJP-JD(S) Government in Karnataka today said it would prove its majority on the floor of the State Assembly on November 19, advancing the trust vote by four days on a direction from Governor Rameshwar Thakur.

Briefing newspersons after an emergency Cabinet meeting, Minister V S Acharya said instead of November 23, the one-day session of the State Assembly would be convened on November 19. The advancement of date followed the Governor's direction that the newly sworn in Government should prove its majority within eight days.

The five-member ministry was sworn in by Mr Thakur yesterday.

Dr Acharya said the Cabinet also decided to extend provision of free cycle to school going children for the current year also. Under the scheme, 4.35 lakh students, including 1.85 girls, would benefit.

Each cycle was estimated to cost around Rs 2,020 and tenders would be floated at the earliest for the Rs 90 crore project, he added.

The Cabinet also decided to provide green ration cards to 12.7 lakh below the poverty line families. So far, the Government had issued ration cards for 70.35 lakh families, covering 61.64 per cent of the population.

The Cabinet, in another decision, approved taking up of airport project under private-public partnership basis in Shimoga and Gulbarga districts. While 567 acres would be acquired for Gulbarga airport, 652 acres would be acquired for Shimoga airport. The airports would be provided to the private partner on a 30-year lease.

The Cabinet also decided to provide 100 acres of Government land for the proposed Bijapur airport.

UNI