BENGALURU: Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Friday said that the budget, which he presented recently, lays stress on bringing the economy back on track. Replying to the budget discussion in the Council, Bommai said he had his own fears while preparing the budget as the economic situation in the state was bad due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“The state’s economy was not that good for two years. Revenue receipts had come down and I was worried that I may have to shrink the budget size. But, I gave importance to preparing the budget in such a way that it puts the state’s economy back on track,” the CM said.
He added that luckily, the state’s economy recovered in November last year and the third wave of the pandemic did not have much effect. “The collections in GST, excise duty, stamp duty, and non-tax revenues increased, but only motor vehicle tax collection did not see improvement as there was not much sale of vehicles,” Bommai noted.
Stressing on the importance of strengthening the farming community, the CM said they are not just producers, but also consumers. “There is a perception that only the rich contribute to the economy. But the real movers and shakers are at the bottom of the pyramid,” he stressed, adding that his budget was growth-oriented and aimed at making Karnataka a revenue-surplus state again.
Congress stages a walkout
During the discussion on the CM’s reply, the Congress members asked him not to sell government properties such as NGEF and Mysore Lamps. The CM replied that there is no proposal to sell properties of any public sector unit under the asset monetisation plan. Under the plan, steps will be taken to monetise properties of transport corporations and Escoms, which are reeling under losses.
Bommai also refuted the allegations of the Opposition that several projects announced in the previous budgets were dropped. “Out of the 352 programmes, 261 are already implemented. As many as 87 projects are in various stages of implementation while only four were dropped,” he clarified.
Responding to the demand for dropping the New Pension Scheme and reintroducing the Old Pension Scheme (OPS), Bommai said a decision will be taken after studying the models in states where the OPS was brought back.
Even as the Chief Minister was replying, Opposition leader B K Hariprasad intervened saying that his reply seems to be merely an eye-wash and the Congress MLCs staged a walkout. Reacting sharply, the Chief Minister said, “I have not even replied to some of their questions and they are walking out. Does the Opposition have any responsibility or seriousness about the development of the state?”