BENGALURU: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said that Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has presented a disappointing budget without acknowledging any demands of the state.
Addressing a press conference on Tuesday, he said that Nirmala Sitharaman has given a ‘Chombu’ (Empty vessel) to the people of the state by completely ignoring their interest. He stated that the Prime Minister has given special grants to the states of Andhra Pradesh and Bihar to maintain his power while neglecting other states.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said, “In the pre-budget meeting, the state government had put forward several requests. However, the Union Finance Minister has not responded to any of the demands. Nirmala Sitharaman had announced in the previous budget to provide Rs. 5300 crore in grants for the Upper Bhadra Project. It was requested again in this budget, but no money has been provided for this project. The government is providing Rs. 5,000 crore this year for the comprehensive development of Kalyana Karnataka.”
He further said that, in addition to this, a request was made to provide grants to the backward taluks. Similarly, they have cheated the farmers by not making any proposals in the budget about the Mahadayi Mekedatu scheme and the Upper Krishna Projects.
Siddaramaiah further said, “As per the recommendation of the 15th Finance Commission, a sum of Rs. 11,485 crore was requested for the construction of peripheral roads, the development of lakes, and Bangalore urban development projects. Besides, there has been a demand for setting up AIIMS in Raichur for several years, and this demand was also made in the pre-budget meeting. The central government has not acknowledged any of these requests.”
The central government has not yet provided any grants for the projects announced for the state in the previous budget. Therefore, this time the proposed industrial corridor will remain only as a declaration, he said.
He further said, “This budget is anti-people and has completely neglected the poor, particularly Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. A big injustice has been done to the farmers in this budget. Farmers have been demanding the creation of a Minimum Support Price Act for 5 years, but there is no mention of this in the budget. There is also no mention of the implementation of the Swaminathan Commission’s recommendations.” Thus, they have deceived the farmers, he said.
He said that although there are five ministers from the state in the central cabinet, there is no benefit to the state; these five have failed to bring any advantage to the state. He said that the grants announced in the interim budget presented last February for the health, defence, healthcare, IT, and communication sectors have now been cut. He said that the substantial reduction in grants for the development of scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, and minorities is a betrayal of these communities.
“The 16th Finance Commission of the Centre will visit the state on August 28, during which it will be requested to correct the injustice done to the state in the past,” he further said.
He said that all measures are being taken to present the issue efficiently.
Chief Minister’s Economic Adviser Basavaraja Rayareddy, Additional Chief Secretary to the Government LK Ateeq, Political Secretaries Govidaraju and Naseer Ahmed were present. (ANI)