State Emblem |
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| Seat of Government | Bangalore |
|---|---|
| Executive | |
| Governor | Hans Raj Bhardwaj |
| Chief Minister | D V Sadananda Gowda |
| Legislature | |
| Speaker | K G Bopaiah |
| Members in Assembly | 225 |
| Council | Karnataka Legislative Council |
| Chairman | Veeranna Mattikatti |
| Members in Council | 75 |
| Judiciary | |
| High Court | Karnataka High Court |
| Chief Justice | J S Khehar |
| http://www.karnataka.gov.in | |
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.
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Karnataka State has been divided into four Revenue divisions, 49 sub-divisions, 29 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 7 municipal corporations. 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.
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 Andhra State 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.
In 2008, Bangalore Rural district was split into two and a new district of Ramanagaram was constituted. In the same way district of Chickballapur was carved out of the erstwhile Kolar district.
The State legislature is bicameral and 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]
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.
As of 2008, the government of Karnataka consists of 34 ministers. The important porfolio of finance has been retained by the Chief Minister.
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Deputy Commissioners are appointed as the highest officers to look after each district.
Panchayat Raj (Rule of Village Committee) system is a three-tier system in the state with elected bodies at the Village, Taluk and District levels. It ensures greater participation of people and more effective implementation of rural development programmes. There will be a Grama Panchayat for a village or group of villages, a Taluk level and the Zilla Panchayat at the district level.
All the three institutions will have elected representatives and there is no provision for nomination by the Government to any of these councils. Karnataka is the first in the country to enact new Panchayat Raj Act. Incorporating all provisions of 73rd Amendment to the Constitution.
A district of an Indian state is an administrat, 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.
The state is divided into 20 police districts, 77 sub-divisions, 178 circles, State Police consists of 20 police districts, 4 Police Commissioners at Bangalore, Mysore,Mangalore and Hubli-Dharwad cities, 77 sub-divisions, 178 circles, 696 police stations, and 317 police out-posts. There are six ranges viz., Central Range at Bangalore, Eastern Range at Davanagere, Northern Range at Gulbarga, Southern Range at Mysore and Western Range at Mangalore. The Government Railway Police is headed by a D.I.G. of Police.[4]
Units that assist the state in law and order include Criminal Investigation Department (Forest Cell, Anti-Dowry Cell, etc.), Dog Squad, Civil Rights Enforcement Wing, Police Wireless and Police Motor Transport Organization and Special units. Also Village Defence Parties protect persons and property in the village and assist the police when necessary. The Police force is at times supplemented by Home Guards.
Karnataka politics is dominated by the Indian National Congress (INC), Janata Dal (Secular) (JDS) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The previous government was a coalition government of JDS and BJP. The Chief Minister for an initial term of 20 months was H. D. Kumaraswamy of JDS and the post was supposed to subsequently be transferred to BJP's B. S. Yeddyurappa. A political fall out due to the failure in transfer of power to Yedurappa broke the coalition. The state was then under President's rule until the elections in May 2008. As a result of the BJP victory in those elections B. S. Yeddyurappa became chief minister of Karnataka.
Last Assembly elections: Karnataka state assembly elections, 2008
| Department(s) | Minister | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chief Minister (Including Finance, Kannada Languages and Cultural, Cabinet Affairs, Personnel and Administrative Reforms, Intelligence Wing, Urban Development, Mines and Geology, Forest) | D.V. Sadananda Gowda | ||||||||||
| Higher education, Planning, Statistics | V.S. Acharya | ||||||||||
| Law & Parliamentary Affairs, Justice and Municipal Administration | S.Suresh Kumar | ||||||||||
| Energy | Shobha Karandlaje | ||||||||||
| Rural Development, Panchayati Raj, Rural Water Supply & Sanitation | Jagadish Shettar | ||||||||||
| Sugar and Horticulture | S.A. Ravindranath | ||||||||||
| Medical Education | S.A.Ramdas | ||||||||||
| Home, Transport | R. Ashok | ||||||||||
| Social Welfare (Excluding Minority Welfare) | A.Narayanaswamy | ||||||||||
| Small Scale Industries and Sericulture | Raju Gouda | ||||||||||
| Revenue | |||||||||||
| Tourism and Infrastructure Development | |||||||||||
| Housing, IT, BT, and BWSSB | |||||||||||
| Health and Family Welfare (Excluding Medical Education) | |||||||||||
| Labour | B.N. Bacche Gowda | ||||||||||
| Primary and Secondary Education (Excluding Mass Education and Public Libraries) | Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri | ||||||||||
| Animal Husbandry | Revu Naik Belamgi | ||||||||||
| Ports and Inland Water Transport, Ecology and Environment | J. Krishna Palemar | ||||||||||
| Excise | M.P. Renukacharya | ||||||||||
| Public Works Department (Excluding Ports and Inland Water Transport) | Udasi Channabasappa Mahalingappa | ||||||||||
| Agriculture Marketing & Sugar, Minor Irrigation, Kannada & Culture, Information & Tourism, Textiles and Youth Services | Govind .M. Karjol | ||||||||||
| Medium and Major Irrigation | Basavaraj Bommai | ||||||||||
| Medium and Major Industries | Murugesh Rudrappa Nirani | ||||||||||
| Women & Child Development | C.C.Patil | ||||||||||
| Housing Department (Including Slum Clearance Board) | V. Somanna | ||||||||||
| Co-operation (Excluding Agriculture Marketing) | Laxman Sangappa Savadi | ||||||||||
| Municipalities, Local Bodies and Public Enterprises | Balachandra Jarkihol | ||||||||||
| Fisheries, Science and Technology | Anand Asnotikar | ||||||||||
| Mass Education, Public Libraries, Small Savings and Lotteries | Revu Naik Belamgi | ||||||||||
| Haj, Wakf and Minority Welfare | Ali Khan | ||||||||||
| Forest Department from Forest,Ecology & Enviornment Department | C. P. Yogishwar | ||||||||||
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