Confronted with the Legislative Assembly elections this summer, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah presented on Friday a welfare-oriented, tax-free budget that aims at what he called “Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas” with a Karnataka stamp.
Largely focusing on strengthening and expanding the flagship schemes he had announced in his earlier budgets, he offered sops for AHINDA (Kannada acronym for minorities, backward classes and Dalits) communities that have been the Chief Minister’s support base. He announced a steep 30% hike in salary for government employees and pensions from April 1, 2018.
Mr. Siddaramaiah, who presented his 13th and the Congress government’s last budget (2018-19) before polls in April-May, set in motion a string of schemes, including free bus passes for all students (19.6 lakh), free education for all girls joining courses from 12th standard to post-graduation in government colleges/institutions, free LGP connections (30 lakh), waiver of loans up to ₹ 50,000 availed of by shepherds from cooperative banks (totalling ₹ 52 crore), and loans borrowed by below poverty line families from Karnataka Khadi Board.
He announced, in his three-hour-long budget speech, 0 % rate of interest on loans up to ₹ 50,000 for fishermen, increase of old age pension from ₹ 500 to ₹ 600 for the benefit of 48 lakh aged persons and destitute, and universal health care for all.
Earmarking an outlay of ₹ 2,09,181 crore, an increase of 12.2 % compared to 2017-18, Mr. Siddaramaiah presented ₹ 127 crore revenue surplus budget for building Nava Karnataka.
Noting a decline of farm suicides, he proposed to introduce “Raitha Belaku” to give ₹ 5,000 to ₹ 10,000 per hectare for each dry land farmer growing rain-fed crops.
This is expected to benefit 70 lakh farmers. The budget provided boost to farmers who have taken up organic farming, millet, and groundnut crop.
