Bengaluru, 11 September

Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara said that houseless ex-servicemen will also be covered under the State Government’s programme to distribute 50,000 residential sites measuring 30x40 feet in each district. 

“In the first phase, 5 lakh sites will be distributed across the State over the next two months,” he told reporters outside his Sadashivanagar residence on Friday. 

The government had earlier directed the Revenue Department to distribute 50,000 free residential sites in each district across the State to help economically backward and homeless families.

Naxals

Parameshwara also said that he was aware that posters related to Naxals were being put up in Pavagadh, which is in his home district of Tumakuru. He said he would visit the area and speak to the SP there to discuss the issue. 

The Karnataka government had last year largely disbanded the Anti-Naxal task force after the State was declare “Naxal free”. 

But Parameshwara said that half of the force had been converted into a Special Action Force to control communal riots. 

“The other half of the force is operating as an Anti-Naxal Force” in Karkala, Udupi, he added. “If Naxal activity is confirmed in Pavagadh, we will call the Anti-Naxal Force to Tumakuru.”