BENGALURU: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R Ashoka on Tuesday took strong exception to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah “imposing additional taxes and burdening the people of the state”.
“Siddaramaiah had claimed that his government was imposing taxes to generate Rs 6,000 to Rs 7,000 crore, but collected Rs 25,000 crore. For betraying the people and misinforming the House, his statement should be expunged from records,” he said during the debate on the budget.
“Hiking the prices of petrol and diesel, the government collected Rs 5,599 crore, from liquor Rs 5,371 crore, from guidance value Rs 7,853 crore and from vehicle tax Rs 3,712, totalling up to Rs 25,000 crore. The mining and geology department has imposed a tax even on soil taken for the foundation of construction, which is a first,” he remarked.
People are frustrated. A Tarikere farmer, who did not get compensation after the government acquired his land, distributed his ‘thithi’ (death ceremony) cards.
In Kalaburagi, librarian Bhagyavati committed suicide as she did not get her salary for 18 months. The crematorium staff has not been paid for eight months in Bengaluru. A man in Bengaluru had to bribe an ambulance driver to donate his dead daughter’s eyes.
He also had to bribe the police and corporation officials to get a death certificate. At the Hampi Kannada University, 130 staffers have not been paid for the last three months, he said.
He alleged that Rs 53,000 crore SCSP-TSP funds were diverted for guarantees. “For nature conservation and wildlife protection, Rs 4 crore from SCSP and Rs 2 crore from TSP was reserved even as the scheme is not related to SCs. For the state’s share for tiger conservation, Rs 3.12 crore was used,” he said.
Ashoka said the budget is on ventilator support of loans and can collapse anytime. He alleged that the government has dues of Rs 75,000 crore that has to be paid to contractors, departments, towards arrears and to fund projects.
“The government is taking loans of Rs Rs 9.5 crore every hour and paying interest of Rs 5.2 crore every one hour. The government has not created any assets. Each individual in the state has a loan of Rs 1.12 lakh,” he said, pointing out that only 59.43% of the last budget’s allocation was spent.