Wild animal attacks: Karna govt to provide Rs 2,000 per month

The Karnataka government Thursday decided to grant an assistance of Rs 2,000 per month for a period of five years to the kin of those who die in attack by wild animals.

The decision was taken at a cabinet meeting, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Krishna Byre Gowda told reporters here.

This was in addition to existing one-time compensation of Rs 5 lakh given to the families of those killed by wild animals, he said.

The cabinet among other decisions approved setting up of centres of excellence for skill training at the Government Tool Room Training Centre (GTTC) in Yadgir, Humnabad, Lingasugur and Hospet, which come under the backward Hyderabad Karnataka region.

The centres would be set up at a cost of over Rs 220 crore with the help of Dassault Systmes India Pvt. Ltd, Gowday said.

Training would be imparted on automotive, aerospace and industrial equipment, Gowda said adding the governments share will be Rs 20.7 crore, and remaining about Rs 203 crore will be borne by the private partner.

The state government has also approved a compensation of Rs 178 crore for coconut plantations damaged due to successive years of drought.

Around 44,55,000 coconut treesgrown in about 44,547 hectare were estimated to have been affected by the drought, the Minister said adding the Horticulture department will oversee the distribution of compensation.

The cabinet approved a proposal to provide alternative land in return for 45,165 square metre of Defence land in the city worth about Rs 286 crore, sought by the state government for infrastructure projects, the minister said.

He said an agreement was reached during a recent meeting between Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on handing over of the Defence land in return of land elsewhere.