Pramesh S Jain & Thomas (Special correspondent)
The Governor has presented a clear picture about the measures taken by the State government to manage Covid and floods in the state,Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said.
Bommai in his reaction to Governor Thavar Chand Gehlot’s address at the Joint Session of State Legislature said, the Governor has in his address presented a clear picture about the way the State government managed Covid, the floods and the progress achieved in many sectors amid the challenges.
Responding to Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah’s charge that the State government has made the Governor to speak lies, Bommai rejected the charge and said,I will present more clear facts when I reply in the house.
The Opposition will get the reply in the house. People will decide what is true and what is a lie.
Reacting to Congress MLA Zameer Ahmed Khan’s statement that rape cases would increase if women do not wear hijab,Bommai said,The statement reflects his(Zameer) thoughts and mentality.Entire country would condemn his statement.
Karnataka Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot on Monday said fatalities in the state during the COVID-19 pandemic was way less compared to other parts of the world due to effective management.
Addressing the joint session of Karnataka Legislature, which started on Monday and will go on till February 25, Gehlot said,Karnataka won the E-governance award for its effective COVID-19 management using technology.
The state relied on five Ts — Testing, Tracing, Tracking, Treatment and Technology.”
The vaccination drive was carried out at 6,000 centres and 9.33 crore doses were given to the eligible population.
“The state succeeded in giving 100 per cent first dose and 85 per cent second dose. The state conducted over six crore tests,” Gehlot told the House.
The Governor said the state managed to cope with the third wave by increasing the oxygen production and the government is utilising the Rs.840 crore grant effectively.
According to him, the state is the second place in terms of telemedicine- based health services under the National Health Mission.
Speaking about the floods which battered certain parts of Karnataka last year, Gehlot said the state government opened 496 relief centres for 1,38,504 flood affected people.
The government also paid Rs 10,000 as an instant relief amount to each of the flood hit families.
The Governor said the state gave a total of Rs 85.86 crore to 85,862 families.
The government also paid Rs 135.73 crore to those whose houses were damaged.
Similarly, Rs 1,253 crore were paid to 18 lakh farmers through direct benefit transfer under the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF).
Gehlot said Karnataka is the first state to implement the new National Education Policy, and spoke about various welfare schemes, mining policy, enhancing infrastructure, and transport facilities in Bengaluru and other parts of the State, irrigation projects and power projects.
Congress MLAs, MLCs wear black bands ; 
Opposition Congress party legislators attended the join session wearing black bands on their arms as a mark of protest against Bommai government’s inept handling of the hijab row and also as a protest against Narendra Modi government’s rejection of the Kerala government’s tableau on social reformer Sri Narayana Guru for the Republic Day parade.
Sri Narayana Guru is revered not only in Kerala but in the coastal Karnataka, especially by the Billava community.
“We are wearing the black bands as a protest against the BJP government’s bad handling of the hijab issue and allowing lumpen elements to disrupt the classes in educational institutions by wearing saffron shawls.
The entire controversy was mishandled by the government as part of the ruling BJP’s attempts to engineer religious polarization,” Congress opposition leader Siddaramaiah said.
Siddaramaiah also condemned Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister K S Eshwarappa for his recent statement that a time will come when saffron flag will be hoisted at the Red Fort, which is meant for hoisting the national flag.
