CM Siddu to Modi govt: We give you Rs 4 lakh crore, and you punish us?

'Kannadigas are getting only 15% of state's contribution, this is grave injustice'

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru

 Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday underlined the need for justice in the devolution of taxes to the state. He said no one should milk a milch cow completely, or else the calf would be malnourished. Addressing people on the occasion of the 69th state formation day(Rajyotsava Day) at Sree Kanteerava Stadium here, Siddaramaiah said there is injustice happening to Karnataka. The state is contributing more than Rs four lakh crore as revenue to the Centre and it is the second largest contributor to Central tax revenue after Maharashtra, he pointed out. "Even though we give more than Rs four lakh crore, we are only getting Rs 55,000 crore to Rs 60,000 crore. Kannadigas should know this. We are getting only 14 to 15 per cent of our contribution," the chief minister said. Under the federal system, there should not be any injustice just because Karnataka is a progressive state, he observed. "Just because a milch cow is giving milk, we should not milk it completely.

We should leave some milk for the calf too or else it will get malnourished. No one should ever forget this," Siddaramaiah said. The chief minister emphasised the need to take pride in Kannada and bring it into daily use as much as possible. Stating that Karnataka has people speaking more than 200 languages, Siddaramaiah said, whatever language people speak here or whichever caste or religion they belong to, they are all Kannadigas. Those who consume the air, water and food here are Kannadigas, he told the gathering. He said Kannada is a very old language with a history of 7,000 years. Hence, the Centre too recognised it as a classical language. Siddaramaiah appealed to people to never sacrifice Kannada language. "I don't oppose anyone being liberal. I in fact endorse being liberal but not at the cost of sacrificing our language," the chief minister noted.

"Our affection for our language should not be extreme, but we should never give up our pride for our language. We should all be Kannada lovers," he added. "I will never say not to learn any other language. Keep enhancing your linguistic wealth but never forget to speak in Kannada," he told the audience. He reminded people that November 1 is not only the state formation day but also the anniversary of Mysore state getting the name, Karnataka thanks to then chief minister, late D Devaraj Urs.