Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], June 4 (ANI): Karnataka Minister Eshwar Khandre on Thursday said the newly sworn-in government led by Chief Minister DK Shivakumar has taken key decisions aimed at boosting education and employment, including providing free bus passes to all school students and expediting recruitment to thousands of vacant government posts.

Speaking to ANI, Khandre said the free bus pass scheme would ease the financial burden on families and encourage students to continue their education.

'School children... previously what used to happen is that the school children used to pay some subsidized amount for the bus passes. Now we have decided that all bus passes will be free. They need not pay anything. It is to encourage the students. It will increase enrollment, motivation and attendance in schools. Even for socially poor families, it will be attractive for the parents to send their children to schools,' Khandre said.

In his first press interaction as Chief Minister, Shivakumar announced that free bus passes will be provided to all school and college students across Karnataka.

Shivakumar took oath as the 34th Chief Minister of Karnataka, with G Parameshwara assuming office as Deputy Chief Minister on Wednesday. The new cabinet also inducted 12 ministers, including Khandre.

Highlighting the achievements of the previous Congress government, Khandre said the party had fulfilled its electoral commitments over the last three years.

'We have done a lot of good works in the last three years. Whatever promises were made have been implemented. Whatever was declared in the manifesto has also been implemented,' he said.

The minister said the cabinet discussed a range of development issues, including Bengaluru's infrastructure needs, rural development, education and employment generation. According to him, the Chief Minister has constituted committees to examine key policy areas and submit recommendations.

Khandre also identified unemployment and rising prices as major challenges facing the state. He said the government is moving forward with plans to fill 56,492 vacant posts in various departments through a transparent recruitment process.

'Today we discussed in detail the method of recruitment. The youth should get confidence, and there should be a timeline for filling all these posts,' he said, adding that the Chief Secretary had been directed to coordinate with departments and announce a recruitment schedule.

The government is also planning to collaborate with private industries to create employment opportunities for job seekers.

'With artificial intelligence, robotics and machine learning changing the job market, there is distress among youth. We have to address this issue,' Khandre said.

He added that ministers had been instructed to prepare proposals on key issues for discussion in the next cabinet meeting, with a focus on delivering effective governance and employment opportunities. (ANI)