MYSURU: Congress leader Siddaramaiah on Tuesday has hit out at the Union Government over the Rs 20 lakh crore economic package, saying that the kin of Covid-19 victims are yet to receive any compensation.Addressing the media here, Siddaramaiah claimed, “Close to 50 lakh people died in the country and five lakh people succumbed to Covid-19 in Karnataka. But no one knows whether their kin were paid compensation or not. The government was not prepared for the second wave and lakhs of people died gasping for oxygen. It is unfortunate that the government did not bother to pay relief to families that lost their breadwinners and dear ones.”
Siddaramaiah said that heavy rain resulted in crop loss in more than six lakh hectares and thousands of houses were damaged, but no survey was conducted or compensation paid. Claiming that he had built 15 lakh houses in the previous Congress government, he charged that the BJP government has not constructed a single house and has not released grants for houses sanctioned during the Congress regime.
He also came down heavily on the present government for winding up welfare programmes like Vidyashri, Indira Canteen, Shaadi Bhagya and other schemes. Alleging that the BJP and the JDS have not contributed to strengthening the panchayat raj system, he said it was the Congress which gave political reservation to all communities and allotted crores under NREGA programmes to panchayats.
Terming the BJP government in the state as the most corrupt, he said they took 40 per cent commission to allot tenders and used just 20 per cent of the funds for development. He accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of failing to contain price rise. Claiming that the Congress will come back to power in 2023, he claimed that many are joining the party.