On February 16 2024, Siddaramaiah, the Chief Minister of Karnataka presented the Karnataka State Budget as the Finance Minister. In almost three and half hour budget speech, one of the longest speeches in recent budget history, the budget revealed a clear emphasis on prioritising appeasement politics and pushing development initiatives to the back seat. This suggests a deliberate choice to place political considerations ahead of the advancement of developmental goals.
For FY 2024-25, the total expenditure is estimated to be Rs 371,383 crore, this includes revenue expenditure of Rs 290,531 crore, capital expenditure of Rs 55,877 crore, and loan repayments up to Rs 24,974 crore. Total receipts are estimated at Rs. 2,63,178 crores. This is a revenue deficit budget and the fiscal deficit has been maintained within 3 percent of the gross state domestic product (GSDP).
Siddaramaiah-led government in Karnataka has five guarantee schemes- Gruhajyoti, Annabhagya, Shakti, Gruhalakshmi, and Yuvanidhi. These schemes digest nearly 15 per cent of the budget and cost Rs. 52,000 crore to the exchequer in this financial year. The budget allocates Rs. Rs. 44,442 crore to education; Rs. 34,406 crore; to women and child welfare; Rs.23,1559 crore to the energy sector; and Rs. 21,160 crore to the rural development and Panchayat Raj.
Plan for the future: Karnataka Vs Uttar Pradesh Budget
Infrastructure development plays a crucial role in the overall development of a state and disappointingly this government shows less interest in it. There are no major investment plans to build infrastructure barring a few mentions in the budget like adding a 44 km metro line for Namma-Bengaluru metro, addressing the landfills issue in Bengaluru city, and developing Bengaluru Business Corridor. The focus of these investments is mainly in Bengaluru and south India and completely ignoring the Kalyan Karnataka region and this will not address the problem of regional imbalance. There is almost no attempt to create employment opportunities in the north Karnataka region.
Let us compare these infrastructure plans with the plans of Uttar Pradesh that are presented in its state budget on 22nd February. Development of Jhansi link-expressway and Chitrakoot link expressway; Bundelkhand expressway and Defence corridor projects; 594 km long Ganga Expressway that is from Meerut to Prayagraj; for the construction of roads and bridges, Rs 21,159 crore has been allocated; Rs 6,209 crore has been earmarked for maintenance; Rs 1,525 crore for rural roads; Rs 250 crore have been allocated for road widening leading to sugar mills while Rs 50 crore for widening of roads leading to industrial and logistic parks.
This comparison shows how the Siddaramaiah-led Government plans its future infrastructure requirements for a state that is the third-largest state economy in the country and the wealthiest state among the top 5 big economies of the country. There will be no surprise when experts view that the State of Karnataka is being dragged backward in all respects under the present Government.
More Appeasements
Experts opined that the recent budget of Karnataka is more a religious appeasement plan than having any economic and development discipline. In this budget Rs.100 crore grant for waqf property protection, Rs.200 crore for Christian community, and Rs.100 crore for Moulana Azad Schools is allocated. Revenue from Hindu temples in Karnataka is nearly Rs.500 crore but the government plans to give a mere Rs.100 crore to Anjanadri Hill (the birthplace of Bhagwan Hanuman). An estimate of Hindu temples’ revenue from some of the places in Karnataka is in circulation among major media sources which is given below:
These numbers and the budget decisions of the Congress-led Government in Karnataka might draw a striking parallel to the tax system of the Mughals, making this sort of connection quite unsurprising. The budget represents a further descent into appeasement politics, disregarding the essence and wisdom expected of a true statesman.
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