Four pieces of legislation were introduced in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly on Tuesday, including a bill aimed at preserving and digitizing the state’s manuscript heritage and amendments affecting local body elections, police tenure and conditions of service of the Lokayukta.
Among the measures introduced was the Karnataka Jnana Bhandar Manuscripts and Digitization Bill, which proposes a framework for identifying, authenticating and preserving manuscripts across the state while making them available for research and public use.
The bill was introduced by Minister for Law, Parliamentary Affairs and Tourism Hong Kong Patel. It is proposed to establish the Karnataka Manuscripts Authority to oversee the scanning, preservation and digitization of manuscripts, and to facilitate research, publication and wider public access to these records.
Another measure introduced in the House is the Karnataka Gram Swaraj and Panchayat Raj (Amendment) Bill. The amendment comes after the state government’s decision to conduct local body elections using paper ballots instead of electronic voting machines.
The proposed changes are intended to preserve the confidentiality of voting and protect voters from coercion, intimidation and undue influence. The bill also seeks to ensure that local body elections are conducted in a free, fair and transparent manner, reflecting the democratic mandate under Article 326 of the Constitution.
The Assembly also witnessed the introduction of the Karnataka Police (Amendment) Bill. This measure proposes to recognize misconduct and dereliction of duty as factors that could affect the security of police officers for at least two years.
In addition, the Karnataka Lokayukta (Amendment) Bill has been introduced to align the allowances and conditions of service of the Lokayukta with those of judges of the Supreme Court or the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.
