Congress’s 5 Guarantees Star in Karnataka Budget as Siddaramaiah Junks NEP, Woos Minorities – News18

Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah presented his record 14th budget in the legislative assembly on Friday, announcing Rs 52,000 crore will be spent annually to fulfil the Congress party’s five election guarantees. The 2023-2024 budget, with an outlay of over Rs 3.27 lakh crore, set aside Rs 30,000 crore for the Gruha Lakshmi scheme to provide Rs 2,000 a month to every woman head of a household. The state government has termed it the country’s biggest financial security scheme.

Siddaramaiah, who also holds the finance portfolio, allocated Rs 10,000 crore for providing 5 kg of rice to 4.42 crore Below Poverty Line (BPL) families in the state under the Anna Bhagya scheme. As the Karnataka government is facing difficulty in procuring large quantities of rice, it has decided it would give cash at the rate of Rs 34 per kg for the time being.

Rs 13,910 crore was set aside for the Gruha Jyothi scheme, which offers households up to 200 units of free electricity per month.

Siddaramaiah said the state will scrap the National Education Policy (NEP) and will instead be introducing its own. The NEP is incompatible with the federal system and has several anomalies that undermine the Constitution and democracy, he said. Also, Rs 80 crore has been earmarked to strengthen the learning of 33 lakh students under the new education scheme ‘Marusinchana’.

Siddaramaiah also reiterated his government’s commitment to protect and nurture the Nandini brand under which the Karnataka Milk Federation sells milk and dairy products.

The budget raised the cap on subsidised diesel for fishermen from 1.5 lakh kilolitres to 2 lakh kilolitres.

Taking potshots at the previous Basavaraj Bommai government, Siddaramaiah alleged that the water resources department had an average allocation of Rs 20,000 crore but the BJP dispensation approved works estimated to cost around Rs 1 lakh crore. This is a violation of fiscal discipline, he said.

On the Mekedatu dam issue, he said action will be taken to obtain clearances. Land for compensatory afforestation has been identified and land acquisition will be initiated, the CM added.

As part of the mid-day meal scheme, egg/banana and peanut chikki for school students have been extended till class 10 and will be given twice a week instead of once a week.

Siddaramaiah also announced a dedicated organ transplant hospital in Bengaluru at a cost of Rs 146 crore.

The budget suggested a 20% increase in the existing rates of duty on Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) and a hike in the duty on beer from 175% to 185%.

Apart from this, the budget set aside Rs 34,294 crore for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (SC/ST) sub-plan.

It provided for reservation in civil works’ contracts up to Rs 1 crore to all castes under categories 1 and 2A.

Siddaramaiah announced that the pre-matric scholarship for minorities stopped by the Centre will now be continued by the state government. IAS and KAS training programmes for minority community aspirants will also be launched. Interest-free loans of up to Rs 20 lakh will be available for students from minority communities to study in foreign universities.

The budget also set aside Rs 50 crore to protect 40,000 waqf properties.

The Karnataka Christian Development Corporation will be established, said Siddaramaiah, allocating Rs 100 crore for it this year. He also announced an honorarium for granthis serving in gurdwaras.

Works under Jal Jeevan Mission will be inspected by a third-party agency, he said.

Several BJP government programmes were missing from Siddaramaiah’s budget.

The Bommai government had proposed a goshala in every district, which didn’t find mention in the budget.

The Viveka School Development Project that had come under the scanner for painting classrooms saffron was missing too.

A special scheme announced to train SC/ST youths aspiring to join the Agniveer Yojana for military recruitment also didn’t find mention.