The Hindu : Oppn. terms Budget `soft and unrealistic'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Mar 22, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Karnataka

Oppn. terms Budget `soft and unrealistic'

By Our Special Correspondent

Bangalore March 21. Leaders of the Opposition parties in the Legislative Council today described the State Budget as "soft and unrealistic" and packed with populist schemes which could never be realised owing to what they termed "financial bankruptcy".

The reaction to the Budget by the BJP, the JD(U), and the JD(S) was the same.

The lone Congress member to react to it was V.R.Sudarshan who stressed the need to declare Kolar a horticulture district and provide certain incentives to farmers.

The Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council, D.H.Shankaramurthy, said: "It is an unrealistic Budget and the Government has taken cover under drought. Most of the figures in the Budget are nothing more than jugglery. It is also an indication of the Government's poor capacity at estimation of revenue mobilisation. Otherwise it has been intentionally done to fool the people. The Government cannot escape its responsibility stating that bad weather was the source of deficit in revenue mobilisation."

Mr. Shankaramurthy said the Government fell short of its target in revenue mobilisation each year and this would be repeated in the coming year. It had stated that the total revenue realisation would be Rs. 19,845 crore while it realised only Rs. 16,979 crore in the current year. The gap between the proposed realisation and that of the current year was Rs. 2,900 crore. It was for the Government to explain how it would bridge the gap.

The former Law Minister, M.C.Nanaiah, said that going by the past three years, the revenue deficit would touch Rs. 4,000 crore by the end of the financial year compared to the estimate of Rs. 2,135 crore.

The Government had come up with several schemes to please the people. It had been unsuccessful in raising funds because of the liquor lobby.

The senior JD leader and former minister, M.P.Prakash, said: "The please-all Budget will, in reality, not please anybody. The high level of corruption in the Government led to a shortfall in revenue mobilisation and this trend will continue in the coming year. It is an anti-growth Budget. The Plan allocation for vital sectors has been reduced substantially. The Government's aim to reduce the transmission and distribution losses by two per cent in the power sector could be termed a pious expression. The four per cent reduction in sales tax for the aviation sector will only help the Birlas and the UB group. The reduction will only serve the friends of the Government." The JD(S) leader, Basavaraj Bommai, said the Budget did not reflect the true financial position of the State. It had instead served as a cover-up for the ground realities.

The announcement of several populist schemes would only increase unproductive revenue expenditure.

Nearly Rs. 2,200 crore was being drawn from the capital account towards the revenue expenditure.

The BJP leader, M.R. Tanga, termed the Budget "anti-farmer". The farmers would now have to pay for electricity if the consumption was more than the prescribed limit.

The Government should have withdrawn the tax on processed foods. It was a soft election year Budget, he said.

B.S.Yediyurappa of the BJP described the Budget as anti-farmer and said there was no mention about waiving the interest on loans taken by farmers though they were reeling under drought for the second consecutive year.

Even the small-scale industries had been let down and there was no mention about the Rs. 385-crore subsidy due to them. The Government appeared to be keen on obtaining loans to run the administration than in creating assets, he added.

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