BENGALURU: Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot, who addressed the joint budget legislature session on Monday, said that many had predicted that Karnataka would lag behind in development and its financial system would collapse because of its welfare schemes. But the government has proved these doomsayers wrong, he said.
The governor, reading from the text prepared by the state government, said the state has achieved good milestones in every sector, while the state’s income is increasing under the Congress government. “I would like to proudly state that my government has succeeded in accelerating the pace of development of the state and strengthening the financial system of the government,’’ he said. The Karnataka model of development means creating people-centric economic, social and cultural governance, he added.
The state is receiving record private capital inflows and is second in foreign direct investment in the country, while the growth of GST collection is good. Out of 344 points announced in budget last year, the government has issued orders for 331, he added.
The Constitution says inequality should be reduced and a fair share of income should be ensured to the people. That is the reason, the guarantee schemes were introduced and they have decreased the severity of inequality. Over 1.25 crore families are benefiting from direct cash transfer schemes, subsidies and incentives provided by various departments, he elaborated.
Stressing on the recent Global Investors’ Meet, he said 19 major countries participated and MoUs were signed for investing Rs 10.27 lakh crore. More than 75% of MoUs were for investments outside the limits of Bengaluru under the ‘Beyond Bengaluru’ concept. Comprehensive and effective efforts are being made to make Karnataka a USD 1 trillion economy, he added. “Realising that anti-constitutional forces are becoming active, the government is doing commendable work by conducting Constitution awareness programmes. If we protect the Constitution, the Constitution will protect us,” he said.
The governor concluded that the government has achieved all this despite its limited financial resources. It implemented the recommendations of the Seventh Pay Commission and is formulating and implementing several programmes for the comprehensive development of the state, including social, economic and cultural. It is working with the welfare of the people as its main objective in line with the aspirations of the Constitution, he said.