Bengaluru, June 17: Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy appealed Prime Minister Narendra Modi to give 50 per cent funds to waive off the farm loans of more than 85 lakh farmers who are under distress.

Speaking at the fourth NITI Aayog meeting held at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi on Sunday, Kumaraswamy explained the problems being faced by the farmers in the meeting. Farmers were in trouble because of drought, crop loss and other issues. It was the duty of the government to come to their rescue in such a situation. So, the state government has planned to waive off the farm loans of farmers at once, he said.

The state government is committed to introduce innovative programmes for the benefit of the farmers. It has already introduced some programmes. Every year, the state experiences natural calamities like drought or floods and the government has been spending huge money to handle this situation. In the last five years, the State Calamity Relief Funds (SCRF) has increased six times and this has been causing a burden on the state Exchequer, he said.  

Under the SCRF, the centre has released just Rs 1375 crore between 2015 and 2020. Compared to other states, the amount is too minimum. So, the centre should increase this amount to help the state, he appealed.

Both capital investment and skills development are inevitable to set up self employment. The state government has been taking various measures for skills development. But it should be doubled. In view of this, employment generation and skills development subjects should be included in the agenda of the NITI Aayog, he suggested.

Welcoming the Prime Minister’s Rashtriya Swasthya Suraksha Mission of the central government, he said that the Karnataka government has also introduced Yashaswini and other ambitious programmes. Total 145 lakh beneficiaries from 30 lakh families were getting the benefit of this scheme, he said.

 

 

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New Delhi: The Union Ministry of Culture allegedly spent Rs 76.13 lakh on print advertisements marking the 100-year celebrations of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), according to a Right to Information (RTI) reply.

The information was sought by RTI activist Ajay Basudev Bose, who filed an application seeking details on expenditure incurred by the ministry for advertisements commemorating the RSS centenary.

Bose shared a picture of the reply from the ministry on his official ‘X’ handle.

“It is informed that an amount of Rs 76,13,129 has been spent on advertisement given in various print media by the Ministry of Culture on the occasion of the completion of 100 years of RSS,” the government’s reply stated.

Bose questioned the expenditure in the post X, “when Everyone knows RSS is Not Registered & Does not Pay any Tax is it justified to spend Tax Payers Money on such Private event??”

Reacting to the development, Karnataka’s IT-BT and Panchayat Raj Minister Priyank Kharge also criticised the spending.

In a post on X, he asked why public money was being used for what he described as a “private ideological project.”

"Modi Sarkar spent Rs 76,13,129 of public money on newspaper advertisements to celebrate 100 years of the RSS. Why is Government spending taxpayers money on an unregistered, non-tax-paying organisation to celebrate their centenary?," he added. 

According to reports, the RSS describes itself as a volunteer-based organisation and has stated that it functions as a body of individuals rather than a registered entity.

Founded by Keshav Baliram Hedgewar in 1925, the organisation is marking its centenary year beginning from Vijaydashami in 2025, with the milestone observed on October 2.