SLIDESHOW

No Marathi, rules speaker
Belagavi South MLA Sambhaji Patil and Khanapur MLA Arvind Patil, who represent Maharashtra Ekikarna Samithi (MES), staged a walkout after they were denied permission to speak in Marathi by speaker KB Koliwad, during question hour. The issue created a din as BJP members Govind Karajol, SR Vishwanath, Sunil Kumar and JD(S) member NH Kona Reddy objected, when Patil spoke in Marathi.Initially, Koliwad didn’t realize they were speaking in Marathi, but when he did, he cut them short. “If you want to speak, speak in Kannada. I can't give you permission to speak in Marathi,'' he said. Irked by this, the two MES members left the House in protest.
Tables turn on Kagodu
For a change, revenue minister Kagodu Thimmappa got a taste of opposition fury on the issue of regularizing ‘bagar hukum’ land. As speaker, Kagodu had taken former revenue minister V Srinivasa Prasad to task for not initiating action and regularizing the lands. On Monday, opposition members came down heavily on him, alleging his department officials were not allowing such meetings to be convened. BJP member KG Bopaiah said 24 applications from his constituency were rejected. Kagodu’s reply: The government was in the process of bringing in an amendment to revenue rules, enabling easy regularization of bagar hukum land, and would suspend officials who refuse to hold meetings.
Austerity belt tightened
Efforts are on to cut down expenditure by at least 20% during the 10-day legislature session in Belagavi. A 5-litre can of water which was bought for Rs 223 during the 2015 session, has been procured for Rs 60, including taxes, with the tender being given to the lowest bidder. The legislators will be paid an allowance of Rs 5,000 if they travel from Hubballi to attend the session every day, or Rs 4,000 if lodged in Belagavi.
Marshals get a raw deal
Marshals deployed on legislature session duty at Suvarna Vidhana Soudha are in for a rough session. More than 200 marshals have been accommodated at the KSRP training centre on APMC Road here. A source said three or four marshals have been crammed together in each narrow room. There is also a shortage of toilets and bathrooms, due to which many take their buckets of water outdoors and bathe in the open. A marshal told TOI, rather crossly, that the rooms are not clean and maintaining their uniforms spotless white is difficult. Rooms are full of mosquitoes too, he said. To which DC N Jayaram said, “I just learnt about the problems being faced by marshals. I will resolve them.”