Finally, Tumakuru freedom fighter gets a free house
The decision to allot him a house free of cost was taken at the State Cabinet meeting held here on Wednesday.
Bengaluru: It's indeed a day of rejoicing for 92-year-old freedom fighter from Tumakuru, Umapathi Sastry, who will be allotted a house free of cost by Karnataka Housing Board in his hometown.
This veteran freedom fighter had knocked on doors of Karnataka High Court to facilitate him to meet Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in January this year.
The decision to allot him a house free of cost was taken at the State Cabinet meeting held here on Wednesday.
Briefing reporters after the meeting, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister T B Jayachandra said the Cabinet gave the nod to provide Sastry a house in Tumakuru free of cost.
It had been decided to give him a house at 50 per cent concession as against the total cost of Rs 25 lakh but Sastry was not in a good financial state to pay his share of Rs 12 lakh. Again the matter came up before the Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, when it was decided to release the entire money to KHB from the chief minister's relief fund.
"The house will be handed over to Ms Sastry soon", he added.
It may be mentioned here that several attempts to meet the Chief Minister had failed as the State Secretariat and Home Office had denied him access.
This made him approach the high court. Armed with the court order, Mr. Sastry — who participated in the Quit India Movement and several other agitations — called on Chief Minister Siddaramaiah at the Secretariat on January 23 and discussed his problems. Responding to his grievances Mr Siddaramaiah had sanctioned a house for him during the interaction in the presence of Minister for Information R Roshan Baig.
Rs 7300 crore! It’s a bonanza for Bengaluru
The State Cabinet gave its nod to spend Rs 7,300 crore in the next two years on overall development of Bengaluru City. Briefing reporters after the Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister T.B. Jayachandra said the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike had given an action plan for Rs 7,300 crore to take up various works including roads and improvement of underground drainage system in the State capital. In fact, on receipt of the BBMP proposal, the finance department had agreed to downsize it to Rs 6050 crore. However, the government felt the need to spend Rs 7,300 crore for which the subject was placed before the Cabinet. The minister said the funds would come from the Chief Minister’s Nagorroththana scheme and not from the Government of India.