Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai on Friday promised comprehensive development and renovation of temples and monasteries and announced тВ╣425 crore allocation for it as he presented a revenue surplus Budget with no proposed new taxes months before the state is due to go to the polls.
The Budget speech started amid a protest from opposition Congress leaders, who attended the session wearing a flower in their ear to claim people in the state are being fooled by the government.
For the first time, the Budget outlay in the state crossed the тВ╣3 lakh crore mark. According to the budget document, the outlay increased from тВ╣2,65,720 crore to тВ╣3,09,182 crore for 2023-24.
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The Budget, however, stood out for the schemes aimed at the Hindu vote bank. Bommai announced the construction of the Ram temple in Ramanagara district, which is a stronghold of the JD(S) and Congress, where BJP is attempting to establish a foothold.
тАЬIn the next two years, comprehensive development and renovation of temples and mutts (monasteries) will be undertaken…with an expenditure of тВ╣1,000 crore,тАЭ he said in his Budget speech.
Bommai announced a new scheme, Shrama Shakthi, to provide financial assistance of тВ╣500 monthly to landless women farm labourers and free bus passes for women working in organised sectors. He said the тВ╣1,000 crore scheme for the passes will benefit around 300,000 women. Similarly, free passes will be given to all school and college students under the Vidhya Vahini scheme.
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Bommai also announced the construction of 250 тАЬShe ToiletsтАЭ at a cost of тВ╣50 crore in markets and commercial complexes in Bengaluru.
The programmes have been aimed at countering the Congress, which is focusing on women ahead of the polls. On January 16, the Congress promised to introduce Gruha Lakshmi scheme for providing тВ╣2,000 monthly to women-led households if it was voted to power in the state. At a Na Nayaki (I am a woman leader) convention, the party said the direct benefit scheme will help 150 million housewives.
Bommai announced a тВ╣9,698 crore grant for BengaluruтАЩs development. The grant will finance a five-kilometre elevated road at a cost of тВ╣350 crore from Tin Factory to Medahalli, an integrated flyover from Yeshwantpur Railway Station to Mathikere, etc.
Bommai said the fiscal deficit has been reined in at тВ╣60,581 crore, or 2.60% of the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP). He presented a revenue surplus budget of тВ╣402 crore. This broke the trend of revenue deficit budgets over the last two years. The stateтАЩs liabilities have been pegged at тВ╣5.64 lakh crore or 24.20% of GSDP at the end of 2023-24 with borrowings of тВ╣77,750 crore.
Bommai said KarnatakaтАЩs GSDP recorded a growth of 7.9% in 2022-23, citing advance estimates. He added services and manufacturing sectors have grown by 9.2% and 5.1% and mainly fuelled the GSDP growth. тАЬThe resurgence of the economy in 2022-23 has pushed the per capita income of the state from тВ╣2.04 lakh to тВ╣3.32 lakh,тАЭ he said. тАЬI could have said that I will allocate so much money for each section without any plans, just for the sake of votes… But we are a responsible party, government and (this is a ) responsible budget,тАЭ Bommai said.
The Congress attacked the government, saying the state has amassed debt of тВ╣3.24 lakh crore in five years from 2018 and 2023.
тАЬThis is the BJP governmentтАЩs election Budget. Since the election is in two months, this can be called the exit budget of the BJP government,тАЭ said Congress leader Siddarmaiah.
