Getting down to work on the first day after taking oath, Karnataka’s new Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar on Thursday held a meeting with senior officials and announced that his government will set up two exclusive secretariats, one for addressing public grievances and another to handle issues related to NRIs.
Briefing presspersons after a meeting with top-ranking officials including those from the police and the Forest Department, Mr. Shivakumar said the proposed secretariat for handling public grievances would be headed by a Minister.
This will mainly look into the demands of organisations and associations that stage protests. The secretariat will hold meetings with representatives of protesting organisations, examine if their demands were justified and look into addressing them.
The Chief Minister also stated that another exclusive secretariat would be set up to look into issues related to NRIs. Appropriate changes would also be made to relevant laws to facilitate NRIs to invest in Karnataka, he said.
Asserting that his government would not yield to any caste and religious influences or pressure, he asked the bureaucracy to work towards delivering good governance by responding to the aspirations and problems of people.
He called upon officials not to yield to pressure from any quarter. “I want you not to go out of the legal framework by yielding to pressure. Work in a transparent manner and as per your conscience,” he said.
He directed the district in-charge Secretaries to submit proposals within 25 days on the works that could be taken up in their districts within the available financial resources. He asked them to take up regular visits not only to district headquarters, but also to all taluks coming under districts assigned to them.
He directed all government departments to come out with an action plan within 15 days on programmes that have to be taken up including those that have been listed in the State Budget.
Referring to queries related to collection of details on consumers who are beneficiaries of free power supply under the Gruha Jyothi scheme, Mr. Shivakumar said there were complaints that some consumers were misusing free power supply for commercial purposes. Similarly, some of them had multiple electricity meters in their names. Hence data was being collected in this regard to help streamline the scheme, he noted.
Every taluk in the State will now have an anti-rowdy squad as Mr. Shivakumar issued directions in this regard to senior police officials on Thursday.
Briefing presspersons after his meeting with senior officials in Bengaluru on Thursday, the Chief Minister said each squad should have about 10 members and tackle anti-social elements.
Mr. Shivakumar said he had sought a report from the officials on implementation of six new schemes announced by him soon after taking oath as Chief Minister on Wednesday.
The Chief Minister expressed concern that though there was an indication that CSR funds to the tune of ₹8,000 crore were being spent in Karnataka, there was no clue on where exactly it was being spent.
Hence the government had decided to ask the authorities concerned to provide details on the CSR funds being spent and ensure it is used for government schools.
Published - June 04, 2026 09:14 pm IST
Source: The Hindu - India News
