The voluminous report of Lokayukta Justice N Santosh Hegde on illegal mining figured in the Legislative Assembly on Tuesday, with the Opposition demanding a reply from the state government on the action taken report (ATR). During question hour, Congress legislator Mr Tanvir Sait sought to know the action taken by the government on recommendations made by the Lokayukta in his report on illegal mining.
In his reply, Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar said show cause notices were served on five IAS officers, while disciplinary action was initiated against three employees of Mysore Minerals Limited. The government had placed 40 officers under suspension and served show-cause notices on 257 officials as their names figured in the report. In addition, 66 officers were transferred from Bellary district as part of the government's action on the report, he added.
Congress deputy leader in the Assembly T.B. Jayachandra said the answer was incomplete as the government did not spell out details of steps taken to recover losses incurred following involvement of officials in unauthorized mining. Mr Jayachandra also wanted to know if the government had accepted the Lokayukta report or not. Leader of Opposition Mr Siddaramaiah charged that the government was afraid of initiating action against officers of MML. He said if the government took appropriate steps, it would be able to recover over Rs 2000 crores from the guilty. Mr Tanvir Sait said on one hand, the government says it has accepted the report while it has sought clarifications from the Ayukta.