BENGALURU: Karnataka RDPR and IT/BT Minister Priyank Kharge on Monday slammed the Union Government alleging that it has made it a “regular habit” to discriminate against the state, as the flood relief it has released is not sufficient given the huge losses reported.
On Sunday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had approved advance release of Rs 1,950.8 crore as the second installment of the Central share of the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) to Karnataka (Rs 384.4 crore) and to Maharashtra (Rs 1,556.4 crore) governments for 2025-26.
“They (Centre) stifle us by not giving funds, even though we are among the highest GST-collecting and highest IT payee states, and we are number one in information technology exports and contribute over 8.9% to the GDP. Yet, when it comes to devolution of funds and taxes, there is always unfair treatment towards Karnataka. Even now, as per the NDRF norms, what they have released is not enough, as we have reported huge losses. While the BJP-ruled states receive more, other states that are not with BJP or NDA are always shortchanged,” Priyank said.
He also took a dig at the BJP for opposing the Karnataka government’s socio-economic and educational survey and asked whether they will also oppose the Centre’s survey in the future.