Karnataka to face revenue deficit this year: Siddaramaiah
BENGALURU:
Karnataka may face revenue deficit in about one year if the present financial condition continues to deteriorate further, warned opposition leader in the Legislative Assembly and former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.
Participating in a debate on ‘Floods and Compensation’ provided by the State government, he said the committed expenditure, which used to be around 75 per cent of total expenditure when he was the Chief Minister, had now touched 92 percent.
Expressing his concern he said “If this situation continues, then we will face revenue deficit in about a year,” besides extra burden of expenditure over the government constituting various caste- and community-based development boards in such a situation. “Instead of allocating money to such boards, you could have paid compensation to farmers and flood victims,” he added.
Siddaramaiah, who has credit of presenting the State Budget in the Legislative Assembly for more than 12 times, alleged that the Centre’s step motherly attitude is adding to the fuel of financial crisis Karnataka is facing. As against loss to the tune of Rs 24,941.73 crore due to floods that ravaged the State in three phases this year, the Centre had given only Rs 577 crore, he alleged.
At the same time, the Centre has given Rs 2,707 crore to West Bengal in view of the forthcoming elections though the intensity of floods was lesser there, he alleged.
Siddaramaiah wondered why Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa had not taken a delegation of MPs from Karnataka to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to seek adequate compensation. He also took exception to the Prime Minister not visiting the State for a flood survey though he went to Bihar for the same purpose.
He also criticised Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for rejecting the 15th Finance Commission’s recommendation to provide a special grant of Rs 5,495 crore to Karnataka and two other States.
“I have written three letters to the Chief Minister related to floods. But he has not responded to any of them,” he alleged. The government had given a meagre crop loss compensation of RS 110 crore though 25 percent of crops worth Rs 14,000 crore was lost,” he alleged. (Agency)
About the Author
