Siddaramaiah decries coalition Govt for not announcing schemes

Bangalore, Mar 28 (UNI) Former Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister Siddaramaiah today decried the new coalition government, headed by H D Kumaraswamy, for failing to introduce new schemes for the weaker sections of the society.

Participating in a discussion on the budget in the Assembly, he said the new Government enjoyed a surplus revenue of Rs 854 crore from the beginning, unlike the previous Government, headed by N Dharam Singh, which had inherited a revenue deficit of Rs 2,315 crore. It was unfortunate that despite having surplus revenue, the new Government had not chalked out measures such as new Government schools and creation of health facilities in rural areas. Besides, the Government had not spelt out clear measures for widening the tax base and curtailing wasteful expenditure. Value Added Tax system was not being implemented properly following differences of opinion among bureacrats, he added.

Mr Siddaramaiah said the fiscal management of the previous Government was reflected by the Centre granting Rs 631 crore incentive for maintaining good fiscal discipline and an effective tax collection method. The new Government could not take credit of this factor as it was only 45 days old and could not claim any achievement.

He observed that Karnataka was one among the very few States which had come out of fiscal stress. The debt services were at a sustainable level now, he added.

Deputy Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa, who also holds the Finance portfolio, would give his reply to the discussion tomorrow.

UNI SR GD TS2039