Can Siddu balance funds & freebies?

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: Pleasing all by implementing the five poll guarantees of the Congress party and yet not burdening any section of society for the purpose - that's the big task Chief Minister Siddaramiah faces as he gears up to present the first Budget of the new Congress government in Karnataka on Friday.

The veteran leader is no stranger to the exercise having presented as many as 14 budgets.With the Lok Sabha polls now just months way, the question of imposing taxes on citizens will have to be ruled out and so where are the funds for the freebies going to come from?

Another worry for Siddaramaiah is the fact that the monsoon has been playing truant this year leaving most reservoirs depleted and if the situation continues, agrarian distress is likely to worsen. People are looking forward to a balanced budget with measures to curb inflation, check the rising prices of essential commodities like tomatoes and turdal besides fulfillment of all five poll promises.

Keeping the electorate happy is of utmost imortance with the Congress hoping to win at least 20 of the 28 Lok Sabha seat.

The CM is expected to give a thrust to core areas like education, health, infrastructure, agriculture and irrigation promotion without neglecting rural development and also not resort to borrowing additional loans from lending agencies as the state's outstanding loan liabilities have already touched Rs 5.91lakh crores.

"Apart from arranging funds for the poll guarantees, rejuvenating the state-run bus corporations which are already facing losses and have been further burdened because of the implementation of the Shakthi scheme for free women, is another big challenge for Siddaramaiah", says Prof Jayashankar, Professor of Economics, Government College of Arts, Bengaluru.

There is also tremendous pressure on the CM to focus on rural development with several villages reeling under drought and facing scarcity of drinking water.

Easing of traffic congestion in urban areas like Benglauru and the shifting of industries to second-tier cities with good infrastructure facilities to decongest Bengaluru, will be another priority, he says.

Siddaramaiah may increase the Budgetary outlay by at least 20 percent compared to the previous budgets presented by then chief minister Basavaraj Bommi, says Prof Deshpande, economist.

Increasing the budget outlay to Rs 3.35 lakh crore from the existing Rs 3 lakh crore could help him garner funds for the five poll guarantees which may need around Rs 60,000 crore.

The government can mop up resources by hiking excise duty, commercial taxes and guidance value for property registration which has not been revised for the last three years.