The Karnataka Cabinet on Thursday, 13 August 2026 cleared two significant measures — the Karnataka Regulation of Use of Government Premises and Public Property Bill, 2026, and the Sandhya Kiran contributory cashless healthcare scheme for state government pensioners — in a wide-ranging session held in Bengaluru. Together, the decisions signal the state government's push to tighten oversight of public assets while extending medical cover to nearly 4.93 lakh beneficiaries.

What the Premises Regulation Bill Proposes

The proposed legislation aims to create a legal framework governing the use of government lands, buildings, playgrounds, parks, roads, and other public assets by private individuals, organisations, associations, societies, and other entities. Home Minister Priyank Kharge said the Bill would safeguard and preserve government property and ensure its responsible utilisation for public benefit.

Kharge moved to quell speculation that the legislation was designed to target specific groups. 'Why is everyone thinking this is to curtail or curb any particular institution, association, organisation, society, club, union, syndicate or NGO? Beats me,' he said. The Bill explicitly covers prevention of misuse of public assets without singling out any category of user.

Sandhya Kiran: Coverage and Contribution Structure

The Sandhya Kiran scheme will offer cashless secondary, tertiary, and emergency medical treatment of up to ₹5 lakh per year on a family floater basis to state government pensioners below 70 years of age, family pensioners, and their eligible dependent family members. It will initially cover approximately 3.11 lakh state government pensioners, with total beneficiaries reaching around 4.93 lakh.

The scheme is formulated under the Ayushman Bharat‑Arogya Karnataka (AB‑ArK) framework, and treatment will be available at hospitals empanelled under the scheme using AB‑ArK benefit packages and revised package rates.

On the contribution side, service pensioners will pay 1.25 per cent of their basic pension, while family pensioners will contribute 0.75 per cent of their basic family pension. Of the estimated annual treatment expenditure of ₹81.75 crore, 70 per cent will be borne by beneficiaries — amounting to ₹57.22 crore — and 30 per cent, or ₹24.53 crore, by the state government.

Financial Sustainability Mechanisms

The scheme is projected to generate approximately ₹117 crore annually through premium contributions, against an estimated annual treatment cost of ₹81.75 crore. To protect long-term viability, the premium rate may be automatically raised by 0.05 percentage points if corpus utilisation exceeds 85 per cent.

Implementation will be handled by the Suvarna Arogya Suraksha Trust (SAST), which will manage beneficiary registration, premium collection, hospital administration, cashless treatment, and claim processing through the AB‑ArK system.

Broader Context

The twin approvals come as the Karnataka government faces pressure to both rationalise use of public resources and expand social protection for its ageing pensioner workforce. The Premises Regulation Bill, notably, is the first such comprehensive legislation in the state targeting misuse of public property by non-government entities. The Sandhya Kiran scheme, meanwhile, fills a gap left by existing health cover programmes that did not extend cashless tertiary care to pensioners under a contributory model. How effectively SAST administers claims at scale will determine whether the scheme delivers on its promise.