Siddu balances welfare, growth

The Budget for 2023-24 presented by Chief Minister in the State Assembly on Friday can be principally termed as an attempt to please the Ahinda constituency, a combine of social components Mr. Siddramaiah has been courting all through his political career.

Secondly, the effort to mobilise finances for the five major guarantees the Congress party promised prior to the Assembly elections, seems to occupy the centrality in the CM’s scheme of things.

Mr. Siddaramaiah, who by presenting the 14th State Budget, crossed a new milestone in his career, has tried to balance welfare with growth, even while being fully aware of the risks of going back on the promises made during the run-up to the elections.

The Budget has spared the general populace of the burden of any new taxes. The Budget sets aside a massive chunk of Rs. 52,000 crore for fulfilling the five guarantees, namely 200 units of free power to every household; free travel for women in state owned buses; Rs. 2,000 to women heads of the families; Rs. 3,000 a month for the unemployed graduates; and, free 10 kgs rice to families Below Poverty Line (BPL).

Understandably, the strain placed by the massive outgo on the five promises needed a compensation. The CM has found it among the consumers of the Indian Made Foreign Liquor who would be asked to cough up additional excise duty on the peg that cheers. Ostensibly, the section is well aware of the futility of getting furious.

However, property owners may be in for a hefty hike as the Budget proposes to revise the guidance value. A hefty allocation for the development of Bengaluru— Rs. 45,000 crore—should also be understood in the given political ambience wherein his deputy and the close rival D. K. Shivakumar has to be kept in good humour.

Aside from the good it does to the city, it is also the part of the bargain the CM has to make for sustaining the tenuous ties within the cabinet.

However, proposal for two new Metro lines and revival of plans to boost the Suburban Rail network around the city, would be welcome by all those urging the improvement of public transport.

Insurance scheme for thousands of gig workers, is sure to warm the hearts of a vast army of delivery personnel who lend efficiency to the city’s life and economy.

The scheme to set up a slew of scanning, screening and dialysis centres across the state should go a long way in easing the rigours of rural folk forced to spend resources and time on travelling to distant cities for want of such facilities at hand.

A separate allocation of Rs. 100 crore for Christian Development Board fulfills the longstanding demand by the community. Revival of Arivu scheme for scholarships for the students from minority communities should revive hopes of the communities who were witness to constant whittling down of the useful schemes during the reign of the BJP.

The proposals to set up industrial clusters near Vijayapura, industrial townships at multiple points in the state, new policy for setting up agro-processing centres, developing industrial estates along the Chennai-Bengaluru highway and tech Innovation Park in Kadugodi are likely to be viewed positively by those urging expansion of industries away from Bengaluru.