Bengaluru : The State government is making preparations to launch a dedicated channel to broadcast the State legislature proceedings, said Minister for Infrastructure Development, Information and Haj R Roshan Baig on Wednesday.

Speaking to reporters at the KPCC office here, he said the presiding officers of both the Assembly and the Council had already approved a proposal to start a channel on the lines of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha channels. The proposal will be discussed in the coming budget session, he said.

He refuted reports that the move to start the channel was aimed at curbing private news channels. The government has prepared the proposal based on the recommendation of a Assembly committee – that probed into the incident of certain MLAs watching obscene videos in the House in 2012. The panel stated that private news channels should not be allowed to air the proceedings directly and suggested launching an exclusive channel.

The minister said that the government was committed to building a memorial for the late actor Vishnuvardhan. The work has been stalled due to a court stay on land. The Advocate General of Karnataka had been making efforts to get the stay vacated, he said.