BENGALURU: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday advised Congress MLAs and ministers to convey to people that Karnataka stands first in the country in per capita income and also to expose the Centre for failing to supply adequate amounts of fertilisers to state’s farmers.
Continuing his meeting with MLAs on Day 2, Siddaramaiah said, “We should all make people understand that the five guarantees are directly responsible for this economic achievement.”
He asked the MLAs to make farmers realise that despite the Centre’s non-cooperation, the state is tackling fertiliser shortage. “Around 11.17 lakh metric tonnes of urea is required for the monsoon season, and 6.81 lakh metric tonnes is required between April and July. But the Centre has supplied 5.17 lakh tonnes. This year, maize has been sown in 2 lakh hectares, creating a high demand. But the Centre has reduced urea supply. BJP’s protest is a politically malicious and shameful act. You should make people understand this. We should be in touch with officials and find solutions to avoid suffering for farmers,” he told MLAs.
He claimed that his government is correcting the shortcomings of the previous BJP government and revitalising the economy. “The BJP government had taken up works worth Rs 2,70,695 crore and called tenders without providing funds. Another works worth Rs 1,66,426 crore under the chief minister’s discretionary quota were taken up, but bills of over Rs 72,000 crore were not cleared,” he alleged.
Because of the Centre’s flawed devolution of taxes, the state lost Rs 68,000 crore, he charged. “We are spending 1.12 lakh crore every year on guarantee schemes, social pensions, subsidies, incentives and schemes that reach the beneficiaries directly,” he said.
“We are spending Rs 45,600 crore to pay off the interest. Despite these difficulties, we are implementing all the guarantees,” he said. The MLAs and concerned district ministers of Kalaburagi, Uttara Kannada, Bidar,Raichur, Koppal, Yadgir, Hubballi-Dharwad, Belagavi, Ballari and Vijayanagara took part.
BR Patil gives it a miss
Aland MLA and deputy chairman of state’s planning commission BR Patil, who is sulking over alleged corruption in the Rajiv Gandhi Housing Corporation, did not attend the meeting.