Karnataka Guv lauds govt for its "achievements" amid COVID-19, Cong stages protest

Opposition Congress on Thursdaystaged a symbolic protest during the joint sitting ofKarnataka legislature, accusing the BJP government of'neglecting' the northern districts, even as Governor VajubhaiVala lauded the state administration over its ''achievements''amid COVID pandemic.

As Governor Vala began his customary address to the jointsitting of the state legislature, Congress legislators led bytheir leader Siddaramaiah rose up holding placards for acouple of minutes, before they sat down and listened to thespeech peacefully until completion.

In the placards, Congress MLAs charged the governmentwith 'neglecting North Karnataka by not holding a legislaturesession in the border district of Belagavi.

Legislature session is held once a year at SuvarnaVidhana Soudha in Belagavi, modeled on the Vidhana Soudha, thestate secretariat in Bengaluru.

The Governor in his address said his government has triedits best to mitigate the adverse impact of COVID-19.

''We have used the crisis as an opportunity, to build onour strengths, to create additional health infrastructure andenhance production capacity (of medical equipment).'' Despite the challenges and the hardships imposed by thepandemic, the achievements of my government are noteworthy, headded.

Listing out the various achievements and reform measuresundertaken by the state government, the Governor said ''mygovernment has declared a war on drugs, considering itsadverse impact on the society, especially youngsters.''Highlighting the government's handling of the flood situationin the state, he said, in total Rs 1,345 crore has beenreleased for flood relief.

He further said despite the current challenges, thegovernment has collected Rs 30,467 crore through commercialtaxes and Rs 16,788 crores through excise department to ensuresmooth funding of development programmes of the state.