Lokayukta in ten days, says Sadananda Gowda

With Karnataka governor HR Bhardwaj’s rejection of Justice SR Bannurmath as the next Karnataka Lokayukta, the state government has intensified its efforts to identify a new incumbent for the post.

Chief minister DV Sadananda Gowda on Sunday said the state would get a new Lokayukta within ten days, and that efforts are on to give the new incumbent all the powers that the quasi-judicial anti-corruption agency requires to function efficiently and effectively. He said the process of consultation for the appointment of Lokayukta will begin on Monday.

“My meeting with the Chief Justice will be set up soon to give effect to the appointment within the next ten days,” Gowda told reporters.  “In my six months as chief minister, it has been a mixed bag for me. There were hurdles. But I could overcome all of them, except for four issues that caught my attention during my tenure as chief minister. The first of these four issues was the appointment of the Lokayukta.”

“Stray opinions were aired by politicians and the media. The delay in appointment of Lokayukta is not my making, but the constitutional consultations were taking longer than needed due to political overtones, but that stage is over now.”

Hinting at a fresh round of administrative reforms, Gowda said the government was planning to bring the ‘right to service’ act, which will enable various departments to perform better as well as deliver better service to the people, and the revenue department would be the first to implement it.