Cabinet nod for shifting some govt offices to North Karna

Aimed at addressing regional imbalance, the Karnataka cabinet Wednesday decided to shift some government departments, boards and commissions to the north Karnataka region.

In principle approval had been given for shifting of some offices to north Karnataka, but locations were yet to be finalised, sources said.

The proposal was to shift the offices, including those of Krishna Bhagya Jala Nigam Limited, Karnataka Neeravari Nigam Limited and Directorate of Sugar and Commissionerate for Cane Development, to north Karnataka, mostly Belagavi, where the Suvarna Vidhana Soudha, the state legislature complex, modelled on the Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru, is located.

Plans were also on to shift one member of the Karnataka State Human Rights Commission to the region, along with two State Information Commissioners, and one Upa Lokayukta office, the sources said.

As the demand for a separate north Karnataka state resurfaced, Kumaraswamy in July had said the state government was mulling shifting some government offices to Suvarna Vidhana Soudha in the region, in an attempt to address alleged discrimination.

Following this, a cabinet sub-committee was constituted under Minister R V Deshpande, which in its report had recommended shifting of the offices to the region.