Siddaramaiah tables welfare-centric Budget ahead of Lok Sabha election
Borrowings pegged at ₹1,05,246 crore, which is 28% of the Budget size of ₹3,71,383 crore; the govt. proposes to allot ₹1.2 lakh crore for various welfare programmes; the Budget promises more schemes for women SHGs, gig workers and anganwadis
Projecting the “Karnataka Model” of development as an example, by focusing on five guarantees that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah promised would ensure positive changes in the lives of crores of people — mainly women and marginalised sections — the State Budget for 202425 sought to demonstrate that welfare has the pride of place in the Congress government.
Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, Mr. Siddaramaiah has not levied any new taxes. The Budget pegged borrowings at ₹1,05,246 crore, which is 28% of the Budget size of ₹3,71,383 crore in 202425. Revenue deficit is expected to touch ₹27,354 crore.
Mr. Siddaramaiah, who holds the Finance portfolio, presented his 15th Budget in the Assembly on Friday which not only provided financial support for five guarantees, aimed at achieving equitable distribution of wealth in society, but also added more schemes for the welfare of women SHGs, gig workers, and anganwadi workers. A sum of ₹1,20,373 crore was allocated for various welfare programmes.
Targeting Centre
In an over a threehourlong speech, Mr. Siddaramaiah defended the five guarantees and hit out at the Union government’s “antipeople” policies for the last one decade, which, he said, had led to widening inequality, concentration of wealth in few hands, and “crony capitalism”. The government had undertaken the work left undone by the Centre which had abdicated its responsibility, he charged.
The Chief Minister’s tirade against the Centre left the BJP and the Janata Dal (S) fuming, and both staged a walkout terming the Budget as “empty”.
Spending on guarantees
Mr. Siddaramaiah hit out at the Opposition for their criticism, saying that they rest on the soaring aspirations of the people. The Budget proposed to spend ₹52,000 crore on five guarantees.
The Chief Minister justified the government’s “welfare approach” by citing principles advocated by B.R. Ambedkar and Basaveshwara. Apparently referring to “Modi guarantees”, he found an irony in the same people who criticised guarantees as “Bitti Bhagyas” had now “stolen” them and were trying to implement them as their own.