Leader of Opposition Siddaramaiah has written to Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai asking the government to meet the demands of guest lecturers working in state-run first grade colleges. As many as 14,183 guest lecturers have sought salary security for the entire year, while also asking for pay hike.
“This is a reasonable demand. They are lecturers with post graduate and PhD degrees. While their counterparts, who are permanent employees, get 10 times more the salary under UGC, these lecturers are getting only Rs, 10,000-12,000 and that too for only eight months a year,” he pointed out.
With the increasing Omicron cases likely to play a dampener to the annual Banashankari fair, Siddaramaiah, also Badami MLA, has urged his constituents to conduct the fair while taking all Covid-related precautions. The fair is scheduled to begin from January 17.
Siddaramaiah held a meeting with all the officials, elected representatives and the temple management, in this regard on Saturday. Last year, too, the fair had to be downsized because of Covid. If the fair is not held, several shopkeepers who depend on the annual fair will lose their livelihood, he said, asking them to ensure that all necessary precautions were taken.
However, the government’s decision on conducting the fair is yet to be seen.
PAC head appointed
Former Congress minister Krishna Byre Gowda has been nominated as the chairperson of the Public Accounts Committee of the Karnataka legislature.
Gowda was picked after former Speaker K R Ramesh Kumar turned down this position citing personal reasons. Both Kumar and Siddaramaiah had recommended Assembly Speaker Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri to nominate Gowda.
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