The committee set up by Karnataka High Court Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru to look into the demand for setting up the High Court bench in Mangaluru is expected to visit Mangaluru in the first week of October, said MLC Ivan D’Souza in Mangaluru on Sunday.

Talking to reporters, Mr. D’Souza, who is pursuing the demand for the bench, said former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had written a letter to the Karnataka High Court Chief Justice expressing the need for the bench in Mangaluru.

All the elected representatives have expressed their support for setting up the bench covering Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Chikkamagaluru, and Kodagu districts. There will be sufficient cases from the region for the bench to take up. The present Chief Minister, D.K. Shivakumar, has reiterated his support for the demand and has said land or a building will be allocated for the bench. “We are confident about the Karnataka Chief Justice favouring setting up a circuit bench (to start with),” he said.

Lauding Chief Minister Mr. Shivakumar and his Cabinet colleagues for taking a decision to accord additional official language status to Tulu, Mr. D’Souza said a notification in this regard would be issued shortly. “The decision is taken by the government and I do not think there is a need to take the approval of the Legislative Assembly before issuing the notification.” The government will shortly start recruitment of translators for translating official communications into Tulu, he said.

The MLC called upon MP Capt. Brijesh Chowta and other Karnataka BJP MPs to pursue with the Union government the inclusion of Tulu in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution.

He said the district administration will shortly start the process of inviting the opinions of people regarding renaming Dakshina Kannada district as Mangaluru district.

The State Cabinet has approved a grant of ₹32,000 crore for different development works in the coastal Karnataka region. It includes ₹400 crore for the repair of roads and ₹160 crore for ongoing water works under the Jalasiri scheme in Mangaluru. Apart from approving an increase in the bed strength of Government Wenlock Hospital by 200, the Cabinet has approved setting up satellite centres of the Sri Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences and Research and the Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology in Mangaluru.

Of the demand for ₹350 crore, the Cabinet has granted ₹100 crore for underground drainage works in the Surathkal area. The government will allot more funds for completing pending works of the new Mangaluru District Prison and shift inmates to the new venue near Balepuni on the outskirts of Mangaluru, Mr. D’Souza said.