Karnataka waives Rs 34,000 crore farm loans
Bengaluru, July 5 : The Karnataka government on Thursday waived farm loans up to Rs 34,000 crore, giving relief to lakhs of farmers across the state.
"I propose to waive farm loans up to Rs 34,000 crore, with Rs 2 lakh per farmer family," Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy said in the Assembly while presenting his maiden state budget for fiscal 2018-19.
The budget proposes to tax the people heavily by increasing the petrol fare by Rs 1.14 per litre and diesel by Rs 1.12 per litre.
"I also propose to increase excise duty on Indian made foreign liquor by 4 per cent to raise additional revenue for meeting the budget expenditure," said Kumaraswamy, who heads a coalition government of his Janata Dal-Secular and the Congress.
The Chief Minister has also proposed to increase power tariff by 20 paise per unit.
Promising to continue the flagship programmes of the previous Congress government, Kumaraswamy told the legislators that the overall size of the budget would be Rs 2,13,734 crore.
"I propose to allocate Rs 150 crore for agriculture development based on the Israeli model. We will focus on agriculture as well as the services sector," he said.
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Fan tries to die by suicide over Nikhil Kumaraswamy's bypoll loss
Bengaluru: Channapatna JD(S) candidate Nikhil Kumaraswamy, who lost the byelection to C.P. Yogeshwar of Congress, on Sunday consoled a fan who reportedly attempted to end his life and requested him not to repeat such acts.
Manjunath, fondly called Abhi, had even penned a letter before taking the dangerous step. Nikhil, who called on Manjunath at the latter’s home in Kudloor in Channapatna, expressed shock and sadness over the incident.
Nikhil Kumaraswamy reassured Manjunath, expressing his support during the difficult time. He told him that he was deeply troubled to learn of this incident and emphasised that he would stand by him. Nikhil also promised to offer assistance in any way he could, including helping him secure employment opportunities in the future, as reported by the Deccan Herald.
He also reminded Manjunath of the importance of his children’s well-being, urging him to focus on their future. “Please, look at the faces of your growing children. Even I have a three-year-old son. The children are young, let us take care of their future also. I will arrange some job opportunities for you. I might not be an MLA but this is a challenge. I will get you employed,” he said.
Nikhil told media persons that he is extremely hurt more by Manjunath’s attempt to die than by his loss in the election. “At 7:30 a.m., we got a message that in Valetoopu, Manjunath had consumed poison yesterday. In Channapatna, our workers and leaders have built this party with zeal. Let the admiration be there in your hearts but if it crosses the line, your families get hurt and we get very pained by it,” he was quoted as saying by the publication.
Speaking of his byelection loss, Nikhil reiterated that the JD(S) had got its traditional votes, but that the votes of a particular community went against the party.
“Deve Gowda gave reservation to a community. We tried our last attempt to take that community into confidence. But they conveyed to us that they do not require us. In future, we will take other communities into confidence,” he remarked in a veiled reference to Muslims.
Nikhil lost the election by a margin of 25,413 votes to Congress candidate C.P. Yogeshwar.
