FM Nirmala Sitharaman rubbishes Karnataka govt's claim of injustice in release of central grants
Bengaluru, Mar 24: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday rubbished the Karnataka government's claim that the Centre was not releasing its due share of special grants' as recommended by the 15th Finance Commission.
She denied that there was any recommendation by the Finance Commission.
"Karnataka government claims that Rs 5,495 crore special grant was not released to Karnataka and this is totally false. The Finance Commission did not in its final report recommend any such special grant," the Finance Minister claimed.
Sitharaman's statement came a day after Karnataka filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court requesting a direction to the Centre to immediately release grants under the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) to the state, which is reeling under acute drought.
In February, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, his deputy D K Shivakumar, Congress MLAs and other Congress leaders at the central level staged a demonstration in New Delhi alleging that the Centre was apathetic towards Karnataka's woes and was not releasing its due share of funds.
"I want to make it a point to tell you in detail that every penny that is due to Karnataka, every paisa that is due to Karnataka, is given, and given on time," Sitharaman said during a talk organised by Thinkers Forum, Jayanagar in the city.
According to the FM, tax devolution has increased under Prime Minister Narendra Modi between 2014 and 2024 by 258 per cent, which is 3.5 times more compared to the 10 years during the previous UPA rule.
In these 10 years of BJP rule, the grants-in-aid have also increased to 273 per cent, which is 3.7 times more than what it was the previous 10 years, she claimed.
The Finance Minister said that between 2004 and 2014, the money received by Karnataka per year was Rs 81,795 crore, which went up to Rs 2,93,226 crore from 2014 to 2024.
"Nobody's boasting that we've given this much or anything, but to be wrongly alleged, accused that you're not giving money due to Karnataka, I'm sorry, please look at the figures, look at the dates when the money was received and then tell us something which is specific and right, so that I can respond and I will respond," Sitharaman declared.
"But when we have given it in time and given sometimes even in advance of the time, to just blanket mislead the people to say money is not coming in is not responsible at all," she charged.
Another set of payments to Karnataka that come under the name of grants-in-aid too increased 3.7 times, Sitharaman said.
"The grant-in-aid between 2004-14 was Rs 60,779.84 crore, which increased to Rs 2,26,832 crore. So I just want the state government to please look into the papers, keep the facts and not mislead the people of Karnataka," she pointed out.
According to Sitharaman, after Covid, Prime Minister Modi asked the Finance Ministry to give states interest-free loans for 50 years to create infrastructure and spend on the ongoing infrastructure work.
"No Finance Commission had recommended, but the Centre decided to give all the state interest-free loans for 50 years It might probably even get written off. What was the share of Karnataka in that? Rs 7,130 crore since 2020-21," the finance minister said.
She sought to know whether the state government acknowledged that Karnataka received the amount, which was not part of the recommendations of the Finance Commission.
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Dalit outfits call state-wide hartal over dental student’s death
Thiruvananthapuram (PTI): Various Dalit organisations on Monday announced a state-wide hartal seeking justice in the death of Kannur Dental College student Nithin Raj.
The hartal will be observed on Tuesday from 6 am to 6 pm.
As many as 52 Dalit organisations, including Justice for Nithin Raj Action Council, have announced the strike.
Organisations requesting cooperation for the strike said that no vehicles will be forcibly stopped and that all essential services are exempted.
Raj, a first-year BDS student at a private dental college in Anjarakkandy in Kannur district, was found critically injured after falling from a building on April 10 and later succumbed to his injuries.
Police have registered a case against two faculty members on charges of abetment of suicide and under provisions of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, following allegations by the student’s family that he was subjected to caste- and complexion-based harassment.
Kerala Pinnokka Samudaya Munnani (KPSM), one of the organisations supporting the hartal, alleged in a statement that police had shown apathy in the investigation and were attempting to protect the accused in the case.
KPSM state president K V Padmanabhan and general secretary S Anwar alleged that the probe into Raj’s death was being deliberately misdirected and delayed.
While the family has firmly alleged that caste discrimination and mental harassment by faculty members led to the student’s death, police were attempting to divert the investigation towards loan app borrowings, they claimed.
The organisation alleged that this was a planned move to shield the real accused.
KPSM further alleged that by deliberately delaying the arrest of the accused teachers, police enabled them to secure anticipatory bail.
They said there was no confidence in the present police investigation and demanded that the case be handed over to an independent agency at the earliest.
