K’taka Cabinet approves scheme for cashless medical treatment of govt employees

PTI, Jul 23, 2021, 8:06 AM IST

Bengaluru: The Karnataka Cabinet on Thursday approved the formulation of the Karnataka Arogya Sanjeevini Scheme (KASS), which aims to provide cashless medical treatment to State government employees and their dependent family members.

”It was announced in the budget.. it will cost Rs 250 crore per year,” Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Basavaraj Bommai said after the cabinet meeting here.

Among the decisions taken by the Cabinet was the approval for providing five lakh houses for the socially and economically weaker sections of the rural and urban areas across the State under different housing schemes.

”Four lakh houses in the rural areas and one lakh in the urban areas…. it may cost a total of about Rs 8,000 crore and will be implemented through Gram Panchayats in rural areas and Urban Ashraya Samitis in urban areas in two years,” Bommai said.

The government has also sanctioned Rs 500 crore for the development of basic infrastructure for about 1 lakh houses, under the multi-storeyed housing scheme in Bengaluru.

Approvals have been granted for the establishment of seven Centres of Innovation and Development in Smart Agriculture (CIDSA) in the premises of State farm universities in collaboration with Hexagon Manufacturing Intelligence India.

”One centre will cost Rs 110 crore out of which Rs 85 crore will be borne by Hexagon and remaining will be given by the State government,” Bommai said.

Besides, the cabinet has given its nod for the implementation of a new scheme ”Enhancing Organic Carbon” in the next five years at an estimated cost of Rs 75 crore, and for this year Rs 10 crore will be given.

The meeting also decided to approve the reduction of the registration stamp duty on flats valued between Rs 35 lakh to Rs 45 lakh, from 5 per cent to 3 per cent.