Karnataka coalition ministry finally gets down to work

Bengaluru: The JD(S)-Congress coalition government in Karnataka got down to work on Monday, with the vast majority of the 25 cabinet ministers going to office for the first time after taking oath as ministers.

“Around twelve of the 14 Congress ministers and seven of the nine priests from the Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) assumed office at the secretariat and met senior officials,” the authority in the Chief Minister’s Office said. 

The cabinet ministers couldn’t report to work so far as they were assigned portfolios on Friday night and government workplaces were shut on second Saturday and Sunday. 

Senior cabinet ministers like R.V. Deshpande and D.K. Shivakumar were among the first to enter the offices and hold meetings. 

“Revenue Minister Deshpande held a meeting on the measures taken to moderate the hardship looked by the people in the rain-hit areas over the state. He additionally addressed Deputy Commissioners of the coastal districts on the circumstance,” said the authority. 

Essentially, Shivakumar, who holds twin portfolios of Major and Medium Irrigation and Medical Education, discussed about issues relating to both the offices, including admissions to medical schools for the new academic year. 

“The secretariat is humming with action after more than two months, as the state was on election mode since March 27 when the May 12 Assembly election was declared and numerous authorities were deputed on election related work over the state,” said the authority. 

JD-S clergymen G.T. Devegowda and S. Puttaraju, in any case, did not show up to join office on the first day, as they are accounted for to be “sulking” with the arrangement of Higher Education and Minor water system designated to them and are expecting a change. 

Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy of JD(S) and Deputy Chief Minister G. Parameshwara of Congress accepted office on May 24, a day after the swearing in ceremony. 

Of the 34-ministry, the Congress has kept six of the 21 ministerial berths of its share vacant to be filled later, while the JD-S has one of 11 berths to fill.

One berth (Primary and Secondary Education) was distributed to Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) official N. Mahesh (BSP) and another (Forest, Ecology and Environment) to Karnataka Pragnyavanta Janata Paksha (KPJP) official R. Shankar. 

“The organization or government of the state reached a virtual stop, as the three-day BJP government fell on May 19 and after the coalition government took control two weeks to start thinking responsibly in the service development,” included the authority.