BELAGAVI: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has lashed out at the Union Government for not releasing funds meant for the Upper Bhadra project as promised in this year’s Union Budget.
Replying to a discussion on the first instalment of the supplementary demand in the Assembly on Wednesday, Siddaramaiah said that the Union Budget had set aside an assistance of Rs 5,300 crore to implement the Upper Bhadra project to help the drought-prone central region of Karnataka. “The same was mentioned in the budget presented by the previous Chief Minister Basavarj Bommai. But the state has not got a single rupee as promised by the Centre,” the CM charged.
Charging that the Centre was meting out step-motherly treatment towards Karnataka, the CM said that the state also did not get the Rs 5,495 crore special grant promised by the 15th Finance Commission. It was a great injustice by the Centre towards the state, he said.
Earlier speaking on the supplementary demand, Siddaramaiah said that his government has sought Rs 3,552.1 crore to meet the additional express by various departments. Of the total amount sought, the state would receive Rs 684 crore from the Central fund and Rs 324 crore from the reserve fund. And, Rs 2,627 would be spent towards revenue expenditure and the rest of Rs 915 crore for capital expenditure, meant for asset creation and development works. The net capital outflow of the supplementary demand would be Rs 2,531 crore, he added.
He pointed out that in the amount sought in supplementary demand Rs 508 crore was meant for Scheduled Caste Sub Plan (SCSP) and the Tribal Sub Plan (TSP). While Rs 284 crore would be spent towards the Integrated Child Development Scheme, Rs 189 crore would be offered for Health and Wellness Centres, Rs 229 crore for Warehouse Corporation, Rs 297 crore for giving commission to fair price shop owners and transportation of foodgrains, the CM added.
As the previous government had stopped implementing the Krishi Bhagya scheme, Rs 100 crore has been allocated to restart it, Siddaramaiah said.