BENGALURU: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday slammed Union Minister of State for Jal Shakti V Somanna for accusing the state government of not utilising funds released for the Jal Jeevan mission. Somanna is peddling lies to cover up the Union Government’s deliberate sabotage of the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) in Karnataka, the CM stated.
“Every rupee released by the Centre has been fully utilized by Karnataka! But the Modi Govt continues to block funds and deny Karnataka its rightful share!” the CM stated.
The allocation for JJM was Rs 49,262 crore (Centre’s share - Rs 26,119 crore and state’s share - Rs 23,142 crore), and the total fund released was Rs 32,202 crore, including Rs 11,760 crore as Centre’s share and Rs 20,442 crore as state’s share. The total funds spent by Karnataka was Rs 29,413 crore.
The CM stated that of the Centre’s share of Rs 26,119 crore, it only released Rs 11,760 crore, which is just 45 per cent of its commitment, while the state released 88.3 per cent.
Siddaramaiah stated that the Centre’s neglect continued in fiscal 2024-25, when it allocated Rs 3,804 crore, but released Rs 570 crore. “Despite writing multiple letters, no further funds have been released. Karnataka, on the other hand, has released Rs 4,977 crore from its budget against an allocation of Rs 7,652 crore,” he stated.
Meanwhile, Somanna hit back at Siddaramaiah, saying, “The Congress government’s long-standing tradition of failing Karnataka and blaming the Central government won’t work anymore. Your government is quick to point fingers, but it is paralysed when it comes to delivering results. Built on false guarantees, your government is collapsing under its own failures — yet instead of taking responsibility, you conveniently shift the blame on the Central government.”