BENGALURU: Angered by the delay of the state government in implementing the free bus pass scheme for all students announced by Siddaramaiah government, Congress MLC S R Patil asked the government to ‘beg, borrow or steal’ to implement the scheme.The remark was made by the Congress MLC, a close confidante of former CM Siddaramaiah, during a discussion on recent protests by students who had demanded the implementation of the scheme.
“How can Finance Department withhold funds for the scheme, which has been announced and cleared in the state budget by both the houses and the honourable Governor?” he asked, adding that CM H D Kumaraswamy had assured to implement all schemes of former CM Siddaramaiah. Implementation of all programmes of previous government is the responsibility of the present government. “Borrow or steal, but implement the programme,” he said.
Responding, Transport Minister DC Thammanna said that though the state was keen on implementing the programme, the State was yet to pay `500 crore for the department in the last five years. With the opposition and some members of the ruling coalition not keen on hearing his explanation, Thammanna asked whether the opposition would foot the pending bills.
Patil, meanwhile, said that such remarks reflected the helplessness of the government. “Beg, borrow or steal, but implement the scheme,” he said.Thammanna said that though the scheme was to be fully financed by the state government, the Transport Department was ready to foot 25% of the bills under the scheme if the government cleared its pending dues.