President’s Addresses to Parliament since the beginning of UPA II

Karan - March 12, 2012

The President addressed the Parliament after the 2009 Lok Sabha Elections on 4^th June 2009. She also addressed Parliament on 22^nd February 2010, as well as on 21^st February 2011. The tables below highlight some items from the agenda of the central government as outlined in these speeches, as well as the initiatives undertaken with respect to these agenda items. Table 1: Some Items from the President’s Address to Parliament on 4^th June 2009

Agenda Items outlined in the President’s Speech	Current Status
Establishment of National Counter-Terrorism Centre	Proposed launch of NCTC in March 2011 on hold
Enactment of legislation for prevention of communal violence	Communal Violence Bill 2005 pending in Parliament. New bill drafted by NAC but not introduced in Parliament
Unique Identity Card scheme to be implemented in three years	Unique Identification Authority of India created under Planning Commission on 28 January 2009. Bill to give statutory status pending in Parliament
Establishment of a regulator for the pension sector	Bill introduced in Lok Sabha on 24 March 2011
Convergence of NREGA with other programs; expansion of works permitted; independent monitoring and grievance redressal
Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana to cover all families below the poverty line in five years
Enactment of Right to Free and Compulsory Education Bill	Bill passed in 2009 and brought into force on 1 April 2009
Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan to universalize access to secondary education	Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan launched in March 2009
National Mission for Female Literacy to make every woman literate in five years	National Literacy Mission recast in 2009 to focus on female literacy
Construction of 1.2 crore rural houses under Indira Awas Yojana in five years
Introduction of Rajiv Awas Yojana for slum dwellers and urban poor	Phase I approved by Cabinet on 2 June 2011
Enactment of National Food Security Act	Introduced in Lok Sabha on 22 December 2011
Enactment of Amendment Bill to Land Acquisition Act and Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill	Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill 2011 introduced in Lok Sabha on 7 September 2011
Enactment of Women’s Reservation Bill	Passed by Rajya Sabha, pending in Lok Sabha
Constitutional Amendment for 50 percent reservation for women in panchayats and urban local bodies	Two Bills introduced in Lok Sabha in November 2009; both pending in Parliament
Amendment of RTI to provide for disclosure by government in all non-strategic areas
Model Public Services Law to be drawn up in consultation with states	Right of Citizens for Time Bound Delivery of Goods and Services and Redressal of their Grievance Bill, 2011 introduced in Lok Sabha on 20 December 2011
Introduction of Goods and Services Tax	Constitutional Amendment Bill introduced in Lok Sabha on 22 March 2011
National Council for Human Resources in Health	Introduced in Rajya Sabha on 22 December 2011
National Council for Higher Education	Bill introduced in Rajya Sabha on 28 December 2011

*Note: Blank cells indicate that PRS has not been able to find official information in the public domain. Table 2: Some Items from the President’s speech to Parliament on 22^nd February 2010

Agenda Items outlined in the President’s Speech	Current Status
Introduction of legislation to ensure food security	Introduced in Lok Sabha on 22 December 2011
Rural teledensity of 40 percent by 2014	Rural teledensity of 33% as of February 2011
Introduction of Rajiv Awas Yojana for urban poor and slum dwellers	Phase I approved by Cabinet on 2 June 2011
Disposal of remaining claims under the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers Act
Introduction of amendment to the Wakf Act	Passed by Lok Sabha; pending in Rajya Sabha
Enactment of Communal Violence (Prevention, Control and Rehabilitation of Victims) Bill, 2005	Pending in Rajya Sabha since 2005
Enactment of Women’s Reservation Bill	Passed by Rajya Sabha; pending in Lok Sabha
Constitutional amendments for 50 percent reservation for women in panchayats and urban local bodies	Two Bills introduced in Lok Sabha in November 2009; both pending in Parliament
Establishment of National Council for Higher Education and Research	Higher Education and Research Bill, 2011 introduced in Rajya Sabha on 28 December 2011
Legislation for facilitating participation of foreign academic institutions in the education sector	Foreign Educational Institutions Bill, 2010 introduced in Lok Sabha on 3 May 2010
Voting rights for Indian citizens living abroad	Bill passed. NRIs can vote at the place of residence that is mentioned in their passport

Table 3: Some Items from the President’s speech to Parliament on 21^st February 2011

Agenda Items outlined in the President’s Speech	Current Status
Enactment of Food Security Law	Introduced in Lok Sabha on 22 December 2011
Whistleblower Bill	Bill passed by Lok Sabha; pending in Rajya Sabha
Enactment of Judicial Standards and Accountability Bill	Introduced in Lok Sabha on 1 December 2010
Enactment of new Mines and Minerals Bill	Introduced in Lok Sabha on 12 December 2011
Rural teledensity of 40 percent by 2014	Rural teledensity of 33% as of February 2011
Construction of 1.2 crore rural houses during 2009-14
Enactment of Women’s Reservation Bill	Passed by Rajya Sabha; pending in Lok Sabha
Introduction of Bill regarding protection of children from sexual offences	Introduced in Rajya Sabha on 23 March 2011
Introduction of Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India Bill	Not introduced till date

States and State Legislatures

Government of Karnataka’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic (Feb 2020–April 14, 2020)

Prachi Kaur - April 15, 2020

As of April 13, 2020, there have been 260 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Karnataka. Of these, 70 have been discharged and 10 have died.[1] In order to contain the spread of the disease, both, the Central and State governments have come up with a series of policy responses. In this blog, we take a look at the key measures taken by the Government of Karnataka in this regard as of April 14, 2020.

Movement restrictions

To contain the spread of COVID-19 in the state, the Government of Karnataka took the following measures to restrict the movement of people in the state:

On March 13, the Directorate of Health and Family Welfare ordered the closure of various establishments such as theatres, pubs, gyms, malls, swimming pools, and educational institutions until March 21. The order also directed all international passenger arrivals to be mandatorily home quarantined for 14 days.[2]
On March 20, the above order was revised to extend the closure of said establishments until April 1. The order also banned all religious gatherings.[3]
Further, on March 23, all bus services to and from the nine districts that had reported COVID-19 positive cases were completely stopped until April 1.[4]
The central government later announced a 21-day country-wide lockdown starting March 25.[5] This was followed by the announcement of a pass system by the Bengaluru Commissioner of Police on March 25 to regulate the movement of people in Bengaluru City.[6]
On April 6, District Collectors were empowered to issue inter-district transport passes.[7]
On April 14, the Prime Minister announced the extension of the lockdown till May 3, 2020.[8] On April 15, the Ministry of Home Affairs issued guidelines on the measures to be taken by governments until May 3. As per these guidelines, to mitigate hardship to the public, select activities will be permitted from April 20 onwards. These include health services, agriculture and related activities, financial sector, MNREGA works, cargo movement etc. In addition, subject to conditions, commercial and private establishments, industrial establishments, government offices, construction activities etc, will also be permitted.[9]

Essential Goods and Services

The pass system in Bengaluru City facilitated the movement of personnel involved in manufacturing and providing essential goods and services.
On April 2, the government announced that it will distribute the excess stock of milk to poor people for free.[10]
On April 6, the government declared that rations for the month of April will be supplied to people without the usual OTP authentication process.[11]

Health Measures

Karnataka Epidemic Disease COVID-19 Regulations 2020

On March 11, 2020, the government released the Karnataka Epidemic Disease COVID-19 Regulations 2020 to prevent the spread of COVID19 in the state. These regulations specify the protocol for hospitals to follow for screening and treating COVID-19 patients. These regulations are valid for one year.[12]

Preventive measures

On February 5, 2020, the Department of Health & Family Welfare and AYUSH services issued the Terms of Reference for district-level teams to take preventive measures against the spread of COVID-19.[13] The terms relate to various administrative and complementary aspects related to COVID19 management. These include activities of various teams, human resource management, training and awareness generation etc.

Following this, on April 6, 2020, the Department also issued instructions to all districts to prepare a District Level Crisis Management Plan to prevent large outbreaks of COVID-19.[14]

Setting up of fever clinics, isolation centres etc

On March 4, the state government issued guidelines to the district administration to ensure hospitals maintain a 10-bed isolation ward for COVID-19 patients.[15]

On March 31, the government issued orders to establish fever clinics as the first points of contact for COVID-19 suspect patients. These fever clinics would have COVID-19 Rapid Response team of one doctor, two nurses and a health care worker.[16]

Personnel measures

On March 30, the Department of Health & Family Welfare invited applications from doctors for immediate appointment (on contract basis) in Urban Primary Health Centres in Bengaluru City.[17] Subsequently, on April 2, the state government issued orders to extend the tenure of retiring medical professionals from March 31, 2020 to June 30, 2020.[18]

On March 26, all Registered Medical Practitioners were permitted to provide telemedicine services during the lockdown period. Telemedicine services will be available for minor, non-COVID-19 ailments, and existing patients only.[19]

For more information on the spread of COVID-19 and the central and state government response to the pandemic, please see here.

[1] Novel Coronavirus (COVID19) Media Bulletin, Karnataka, Department of Health and Family Welfare, last accessed on April 15, 2020, https://karunadu.karnataka.gov.in/hfw/kannada/nCovDocs/14-04-2020(English).pdf

[2] GOK order No. DD/SSU/COVID-19/17/19-20, Directorate of Health and Family Welfare, Government of Karnataka, March 13, 2020,

https://karunadu.karnataka.gov.in/hfw/kannada/nCovDocs/Notification(Covid-19)-Dir-HFWS.pdf

[3] Revised GOK order No. DD/SSU/COVID-19/17/19-20, Directorate of Health and Family Welfare, Government of Karnataka, March 20, 2020 https://karunadu.karnataka.gov.in/hfw/kannada/nCovDocs/Revised-Order-COVID-19(20-03-2020).pdf

[4] Order No. STA-6/SCP/PR-20/2019-20, Directorate of Transport, Government of Karnataka, March 23, 2020, https://transport.karnataka.gov.in/storage/pdf-files/restrictions.pdf

[5] Order No. 1-29/2020-PP, National Disaster Management Authority, March 24, 2020, https://mha.gov.in/sites/default/files/ndma%20order%20copy.pdf.

[6] Order No.02 / CP-BLR/Covid-19/2020, Commissioner of Police, Bengaluru City, March 25, 2020, https://karnataka.gov.in/storage/pdf-files/covid_rules/Covid_pass.pdf

[7] Order of Chief Secretary, Government of Karnataka, April 6, 2020, https://ksuwssb.karnataka.gov.in/frontend/opt1/images/covid/Orders/IMG-20200406-WA0005.jpg

[8] “PM addresses the nation for 4th time in 4 Weeks in India’s fight against COVID-19” Press Release, Prime Minister’s office, April 14, 2020, https://pib.gov.in/PressReleseDetail.aspx?PRID=1614255

[9] No.40-3/2020-DM-I(A), Ministry of Home Affairs, April 15, 2020, https://www.mha.gov.in/sites/default/files/MHA%20order%20dt%2015.04.2020%2C%20with%20Revised%20Consolidated%20Guidelines_compressed%20%283%29.pdf

[10] Proceedings, Government of Karnataka, April 2, 2020, ,https://ksuwssb.karnataka.gov.in/frontend/opt1/images/covid/Orders/GO%20Free%20Milk%20%20(1).pdf

[11] RD 158 TNR 2020, Government of Karnataka, April 6, 2020, https://ksuwssb.karnataka.gov.in/frontend/opt1/images/covid/Orders/IMG-20200406-WA0015.jpg

[12]Karnataka Epidemic Disease COVID-19 Regulations 2020, Government of Karnataka, March 11, 2020, https://karunadu.karnataka.gov.in/hfw/kannada/nCovDocs/Exercise-of-Powers-COVID-10(11-03-2020).pdf

[13] No. JRO(1A)/148/2019-20, Department of Health & Family Welfare and AYUSH Services Government of Karnataka, February 5, 2020, https://ksuwssb.karnataka.gov.in/frontend/opt1/images/covid/Circulars/%E0%B2%B8%E0%B3%81%E0%B2%A4%E0%B3%8D%E0%B2%A4%E0%B3%8B%E0%B2%B2%E0%B3%86%20%E0%B3%A8%E0%B3%AA.pdf

[14]No. HFW 87 ACS 2020 Department of Health & Family Welfare and Medical Education, April 6, 2020, https://karunadu.karnataka.gov.in/hfw/kannada/nCovDocs/Circular-Preparation%20of%20District%20Level%20Crisis%20Management%20Plan%20for%20COVID-19(06-04-2020).pdf

[15]Circular No. HFW 47 CGM 2020 (P), Government of Karnataka, March 3, 2020, https://karunadu.karnataka.gov.in/hfw/kannada/nCovDocs/Guidelines-Isolation-Ward.pdf

[16]No. HFW 73 ACS 2020, Government of Karnataka, March 31, 2020, https://karunadu.karnataka.gov.in/hfw/kannada/nCovDocs/Circular-Establishment%20of%20Fever%20Clinic%20and%20Movement%20Protocol%20for%20Suspect%20Cases%20of%20COVID-19(31-03-2020).pdf

[17]No. HFW 71 ACS 2020, Department of Health & Family Welfare and Medical Education, March 30, 2020, https://karunadu.karnataka.gov.in/hfw/kannada/nCovDocs/Order%20-%20Immidiate%20Appointment%20of%20Contract%20Doctors%20in%20BBMP%20(30-03-2020).pdf

[18] No. 40 HSH 2020 (B), Government of Karnataka, April 2, 2020, https://ksuwssb.karnataka.gov.in/frontend/opt1/images/covid/Circulars/Extension%20of%20service%20reg_001.pdf

[19]No. HFW 54 CGM 2020, Government of Karnataka, March 26, 2020, https://karunadu.karnataka.gov.in/hfw/kannada/nCovDocs/Order-Registered%20Medical%20Practitioners%20(26-03-2020).pdf