House passes three bills as BJP lawmakers stage protest

Belagavi: The Legislative Assembly on Friday passed a Bill removing the tag of office of profit from certain posts in the government, including that of  political secretary to the Chief Minister. 

The issue has become controversial following the disqualification of 20 AAP MLAs on the ground that they held offices of profit, which the Delhi High Court later stayed. Since the coalition government in the stae is in the process of appointing a political secretary to the Chief Minister, the amendment was moved to avoid a repeat of  such a controversy in the state.

The House passed two other Bills as well amidst protests by the BJP before the Speaker adjourned the House sine die. They included Bills amending the law on KPSC recruitment and the Rai Technological University Act, pertaining to private agricultural universities.

As BJP members continued their protest in the well of the House,  the Bill on the Rai Technological Universities to remove some provisions of the existing law that were obstructing  agricultural research by private universities was passed by a voice vote. It was earlier passed in the Legislative Council with certain amendments..

The  House also passed a Bill amending some provisions of the law pertaining to recruitment by the Karnataka Public Service Commission(KPSC). Under the new law  SC/ST candidates, who have scored more than general category candidates, will be selected in the general category, leaving their slot open to the next highest scorer in the   reservation category. 

With the High Court and Supreme Court striking down reservation in promotions for SC/ST candidates selected in the reservation category, the state government has amended the recruitment rules to ensure that the high scoring candidates among them don’t lose out on promotions.