GOVERNMENT OF KARNATAKA

The 'Government of Karnataka' is a democratically elected body with the Governor as the constitutional head. The Governor who is appointed for a period of five years appoints the Chief Minister and his council of ministers. Even though the governor remains the ceremonial head of the state, the day to day running of the government is taken care of by the Chief Minister and his council of ministers in whom a great deal of legislative powers is vested.

Contents

Administrative divisions

Political and administrative reorganisation

Legislature

Ministry

Bureaucrats

Judiciary

Executive

Politics

Elections

See also

Footnotes

References

Administrative divisions

Karnataka State has been divided into four Revenue divisions, 49 sub-divisions, 27 districts, 175 taluks and 745 hoblies/Revenue Circles for administrative purposes.^[1]
The State has 27,028 inhabited and 2,362 uninhabited villages, 281 towns and urban agglomerations. Bangalore is the sixth largest urban agglomeration out of 23 metropolis, urban agglomerations and cities in India. It is among the fastest growing cities in the world.

Political and administrative reorganisation

Main articles: Unification of Karnataka

Karnataka took its present shape in 1956, when the states of Mysore and Coorg (Kodagu) were merged with the Kannada-speaking districts of the former states of Bombay and Hyderabad, and Madras. Mysore state was made up of ten districts, Bangalore, Kolar, Tumkur, Mandya, Mysore, Hassan, Chikmagalur (Kadur), Shimoga and Chitradurga; Bellary had been transferred from Madras state to Mysore in 1953, when the new state of Andhra Pradesh was created out of Madras' northern districts. Kodagu became a district, and Dakshina Kannada (South Kanara) district was transferred from Madras state, North Kanara, Dharwad, Belgaum District, and Bijapur District from Bombay state, and Bidar District, Gulbarga District, and Raichur District from Hyderabad state.
In 1989, Bangalore Rural district was split from Bangalore and, in 1997, Bagalkot district split from Bijapur, Chamrajnagar district split from Mysore, Gadag district split from Dharwad, Haveri district split from Dharwad, Koppal district split from Raichur, Udupi district split from Dakshina Kannada, and Davanagere district was created from parts of Bellary, Chitradurga, Dharwad, and Shimoga.

Legislature

The State legislature consists of the Legislative Assembly and the Legislative Council. The Legislative Assembly consists of 224 members with one member nominated by the Governor to represent the Anglo-Indian community. The term of office of the members is five years and the term of a member elected to the council is six years.^[2] The Legislative Council is a permanent body with one-third of its members retiring every two years.^[3]

Ministry

The government is headed by the Governor who appoints the Chief Minister and his council of ministers. The Governor is appointed for a period of five years and acts as the constitutional head of the State. Even though the governor remains the ceremonial head of the state, the day to day running of the government is taken care of by the Chief Minister and his council of ministers in whom a great deal of legislative powers is vested.
The Secretariat headed by the secretary to the governor assists the council of ministers. The council of ministers consists of cabinet Ministers, ministers of state and deputy ministers. The chief minister is also assisted by the Chief Secretary, who is the head of the administrative services.

Bureaucrats

Deputy commissioners are appointed as the highest officers to look after each district.

Judiciary

There is a high court in Bangalore and courts in every district centres and some Taluq centres. The "Attara Kacheri" (which once housed the original "Eighteen Departments"), is the supreme judicial body in Karnataka and is located in Bangalore. Cyriac Joseph is the current Chief Justice of the Karnataka High court.^[4]

Executive

A district of an Indian state is an administrative geographical unit, headed by a Deputy Commissioner or District Magistrate, an officer belonging to the Indian Administrative Service. The district magistrate or the deputy commissioner is assisted by a number of officers belonging to Karnataka Civil Service and other Karnataka state services.
A Deputy Commissioner of Police, an officer belonging to the Indian Police Service is entrusted with the responsibility of maintaining law and order and related issues of the district. He is assisted by the officers of the Karnataka Police Service and other Karnataka Police officials. A Deputy Conservator of Forests, an officer belonging to the Indian Forest Service is responsible for managing the Forests, environment and wild-life related issues of the district. He is assisted by the officers of the Karnataka Forest Service and other Karnataka Forest officials and Karnataka Wild-Life officials. Sectoral development is looked after by the district head of each development department such as PWD, Health, Education, Agriculture, Animal husbandry, etc. These officers belong to the various State Services.

Politics

Karnataka politics is dominated by Congress and Janata Parties (like Janata Dal). The current chief minister is H. D.Kumarasamy, son of former Prime minister H. D. Deve Gowda, from a splinter group of Janata Dal. Bhratiya Janata Party is also part of the government and the deputy chief minister, B. S.Yediyurappa, is from this party.

Elections

See also

Karnataka

List of Chief Ministers of Karnataka

Footnotes

1. Statistics - Karnataka state
2. Council polls may not give Congress majority A Jayaram
3. Karnataka Legislative Council
4. Profiles - High Court Judges

References

★ http://www.kar.nic.in/kla/histry.htm

★ http://www.karnataka.com/govt/
;Police

★ http://www.karnatakastatepolice.org/First.htm
;Judiciary

★ http://www.ebc-india.com/lawyer/hcourts.htm

★ http://pib.nic.in/archieve/lreleng/lyr2003/roct2003/30102003/r301020037.html

★ http://karnatakajudiciary.kar.nic.in/