Yogesh K Porwar & Sunil Lohan
I
ncreasing the budget size without tax collection is foolish in finance management: Bommai
The state government has totally failed to manage finance and it was surprising that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah haa projected the state’s zero progress as his achievement,said Former Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai.
Reacting to the CM’s reply to the discussion on the State Budget, he said.
They have increased the budget size by Rs.62000 crores compared to the previous BJP government budget.
Last year,there was a deficit of Rs.54,000 crores.This year,it is only Rs.55,000crore.There is only an increase of Rs.1000 crore .
The CM claims to be generating revenue at 103%, but how feasible is it to achieve development with this budget increase?
He said the budget size increase mainly goes towards government employees salaries, pension payments, pending debt repayments,and guarantees,not towards revenue-generating schemes.
The state government has burdened the people of the state with a non-transparent and directionless budget.
The anticipated GDP for the next year is expected to be Rs.28,000 crores,which stands on the foundation of the state’s productivity.
Last year,they spent Rs.3.27 lakh crores, which is only an average of 50%.Now, it’s 103% revenue generated.
As per their budget,they plan to reduce around Rs. 10,000 crores in the 2023-24 budget.It’s clear that Siddaramaiah’s government is completely indifferent to both revenue and development.
The BJP leader said there was no contribution to GDP growth from the incumbent government.Claiming that they are working towards development is an insult to the hard work of the people of the state.
Political gimmicks to divert attention
The attempt by the central government to criticize their political opponents has failed in the budget response given by CM Siddaramaiah.
The figures are very clear.In the 14th Finance Commission,under the UPI period,the state was allocated a share of Rs.1,51,309 crores.
In the 15th Commission, they have already released Rs. 1.16 lakh crores.Another lakh crore is expected in the next two years.
That’s about Rs.2.25 lakh crores in reality. Siddaramaiah has been spreading canard by saying that they have received more than Rs.1.50 lakh crores, Bommai said.
Similarly,the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has allocated around 6.51 lakh houses to Karnataka, amounting to about Rs.6689 crores for urban and rural poor.
Under the Prime Minister’s Kisan Samman Yojana,53 lakh farmers have received 13,669 crores,and for Rashtriya Sadbhavana Yojana,6005 km of rural roads have been developed with 97,246 crores.
The PMAY scheme has provided loans to 60 lakh students,and the Jal Jeevan Mission has benefited 62 lakh homes.
All of these are not visible to the eyes of the Chief Ministers.They have become famous for lying to the people in the Legislative Assembly,”he stated.
“The reason for the reduction in revenue share in the 15th Finance Commission from the 14th Commission is directly because of Siddaramaiah’s government.
When the 15th Commission ‘s work was going on, Siddaramaiah’s government was here.They completely failed in the state’s overall economic picture.
In the final meeting of the 15th Commission,the Congress had five ministers in the mixed government.
None of them raised any objections,resulting in a 1.1% reduction in the revenue share.The Finance Commission is a constitutional institution and does not come under the control of the central government,” Bommai said.
The BJP leader said another lie the Chief Ministers keep repeating is that they claim the central taxes, including the cess charges,amount to more than Rs.4 lakh crores.
Who would agree to this? The GST is the only tax the states are receiving directly.The central government is not directly using the cess charges.
Along with the GST share, the states have also received a revenue compensation of Rs.1,06,358 crore in the last five years.Why hesitate to say this?
