More on Covid-19

Cabinet extends GST deadline

BENGALURU: The Karnataka cabinet on Thursday rejected the recommendations of an expert panel of doctors advocating a "graded lifting" of the 21-day lockdown and favoured complete shutdown till April 30. "The cabinet ministers have suggested extension of the full-scale lockdown to check the spread of Covid-19. We will take a final decision after consulting the PM," chief minister BS Yediyurappa said.The PM is set to hold a teleconference with CMs on Saturday to seek their opinion on continuation of the lockdown.The cabinet also decided to cut the salaries of ministers, MLAs, MLCs, speaker, deputy speaker and the chief whip by 30% for one year and give it to the state government for use in fighting the Covid-19 pandemic. "The pay cut starts from April 1 and the total amount adds up to Rs 15 crore," law and parliamentary affairs minister JC Madhuswamy said.The experts’ panel tasked with devising an exit strategy had recommended continuation of lockdown in Covid-19 hotspots and restrictions in the rest of the state. The report submitted to the CM on Wednesday suggested closure of schools and colleges till May 31 and restrictions on mass gatherings.The state cabinet also decided to compensate the losses suffered by farmers due to untimely rain in many parts of Karnataka.We’ve asked district administrations to send reports and will release compensation later,” Yediyurappa said referring to incidents of rain-damaged paddy crop in Koppal. The cabinet decided to release Rs1crore each to 49 drought-hit taluks and Rs 50 lakh each to town panchayats to address the drinking water problem.To help businessmen, the cabinet decided to extend time till June 30 to file GST returns for 2019-20. The government has ordered distribution of rations to over 2 lakh families, which have no ration cards or waiting for one.