Bengaluru: A Ram temple and a comprehensive plan for renovation and development of shrines and mutts are among the major budget announcements made by Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, who has committed nearly Rs 2,000 crore since last year to give a major Hindutva push ahead of the electoral battle.
The chief minister presented his budget Friday amidst “liar-liar” chants by the opposition Congress MLAs in the Karnataka Assembly. Led by former chief minister Siddaramaiah, Congress legislators tucked flowers behind their ears to protest against the ‘fraudulent’ budget.
Bommai proposed to construct a “majestic Ram Mandir” in Ramanagara, the bastion of the Congress and Janata Dal (Secular), where the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is trying to make inroads in the election scheduled for May.
“Rs 425 crore grant has been allocated for the renovation of temples and mutts by Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Departments in the 2022-23. In the next two years, comprehensive development and renovation of various temples and mutts will be undertaken by our government with an expenditure of Rs 1,000 crore,” Bommai said, reading out the budget.
Through this announcement, Bommai has not only shown confidence of returning to power but also forced the next government to either continue the proposed grants or risk being seen as going against the ‘Hindu’ cause.
Bommai has set aside Rs 100 crore to set up tourist facilities at Anjanadri hill in Koppal district, which is famous as the birth place of Sri Anjaneya.
“This is there for a long time as money is given to mutts and temples. Secondly, all these mutts are doing educational, philanthropy things and it will help the government also,” he said to a specific question on the Hindutva push in the Karnataka budget.
The chief minister has been under pressure to highlight governance and development that would help the BJP in the election that could set the tone for the party before it heads to the battle for the Lok Sabha in 2024.
“This is a voiceless budget. It’s the worst budget so far. I have built 400-odd temples. What Will they build a Rama Mandir. We want to talk about our stomachs. They talk about emotions. The temple already exists. Beautiful temple is already there (in Ramanagara),” Karnataka state unit chief D.K. Shivakumar said.
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Rising debt
The budget outlay crossed the 3 lakh crore mark as it rose from Rs 2,65,720 crore in 2022-23 to Rs 3,09,182 crore. Revenue expenditure stands at Rs 2,25,507 crore, capital expenditure Rs 61,234 crore while Rs 22,441 crore is kept aside for loan repayment.
Karnataka’s liabilities and debts have been on the rise, forcing the government to raise debt to fund programmes and projects in the state.
The state government is expecting to receive Rs 37,252 crore by way of share in central taxes and Rs 13,005 crore in the form of grants from the union. These will be supplemented with gross borrowings of Rs 77,750 crore, according to the budget.
Bommai said that the government managed its fiscal responsibilities as he presented a revenue surplus budget, kept a check on fiscal deficit and debt.
Fiscal deficits are expected to be Rs 60,581 crore, which is 2.60 per cent of Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP). The total liabilities at the end of 2023-24 is estimated to be Rs 5,64,896 crore, which is 24.20 per cent of the GSDP, according to the budget.
Bommai has decided to bifurcate the department of women & child welfare, child nutrition and women empowerment. “A total of Rs 46,278 crore has been provided in the budget for the Women Empowerment and Welfare. A total of Rs 47256 crore has been provided for Child Welfare,” Bommai said in his budget.
Another Rs 39,031 crore was set aside for agriculture and irrigation, with the former accounting for Rs 25,000 crore.
Populist attempt
The Karnataka budget has provided several schemes and programmes aimed at youngsters. “For the youth who could not get employment even after three years of degree education, to encourage them to participate in competitive examinations, under a new scheme ‘Yuvasnehi’, one-time financial assistance of Rs 2,000 per person will be provided,” it said.
This goes against the CM’s claims that the unemployment rate in Karnataka stands at 2.7 per cent which is lower than the national average of 4.2 per cent.
Bommai set aside Rs 725 crore for 10.32 lakh children of farmers under ‘Raitha Vidya Nidhi’ scheme, one of the handful of schemes that he announced during his tenure.
“I could have said that I will allocate so much money for each section without any plans just for the sake of votes….in a way for electoral malpractice through which I could have assured allocation for women and other freebies. But we are a responsible party, government…,” Bommai said in the post-budget press conference.
School and college girls will be provided with bus passes for which Rs 350 crore was allocated under the Vidya Vahini scheme. “8 lakh girl students will be benefitted by this scheme,” according to the budget.
Bommai has doled out subsidies, waivers, incentives and grants for several sections of society, including farmers, marginalised classes, landless labourers, women, in a poll year..
Under the Shrama Shakthi scheme, financial assistance of Rs 500 per head will be provided to landless women farm labourers through DBT.
The budget also provides 75 units of free electricity to BPL families belonging to SC/ST communities, VRS for anganwadi workers and incentive of Rs 2 lakh for SC/ST students who secure admission in premier institutes like IIMs, IITs and IISc.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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