Budget failed to meet expectations of farmers, women and public: Siddaramaiah
Bengaluru, Feb 1: Former Karnataka chief minister and Congress leader Siddaramaiah on Tuesday said the Union budget failed to meet the expectations of farmers, women and people at large.
"I did not have much expectations from this budget but the country's farmers, women, and the general public were expecting more. Their expectation has gone in vain," Siddaramaiah, who is Leader of Opposition in the Karnataka Assembly, said reacting to the Union budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
The Congress leader said he had expected announcements of some special programmes to promote health, education and agriculture in particular which "did not happen".
According to Siddaramaiah, a budget should be something that addresses problems such as hunger, poverty, unemployment but there were no signs of any steps taken in this direction.
Accusing the government at the Centre of being pro-corporate, he said the reduction in taxes on corporate bodies will result in more taxes on ordinary citizens.
Siddaramaiah pointed out that the budget estimates that GDP growth will slow down over the next year from 9.2 per cent to eight per cent.
The subsidy money for farmers' fertilisers was 1.40 lakh crore this year which has been reduced to 1.05 lakh crore in the next fiscal, Siddaramaiah said. He predicted that this will increase the cost of fertiliser.
Speaking about Bengaluru, he said there was no allocation for the much-awaited suburban railway project in the city.
Siddaramaiah also charged the Basavaraj Bommai government in Karnataka with failing to bring grants to the State.
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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
