Rs 60,000 crore required annually for implementation of 5 Cong poll 'guarantees': CM Siddaramaiah
Bengaluru, June 26: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday said a total of Rs 59,000 crore to Rs 60,000 crore is required annually, for the implementation of Congress' five poll 'guarantees'.
He said, the fresh budget of the new Congress government, which he will be presenting on July 7, is likely to be of the size Rs 3,35,000 crore.
The Chief Minister, who also holds the finance portfolio, was speaking after inaugurating the training camp organised for the newly elected MLAs of the 16th Legislative Assembly.
"The first budget after independence was twenty one crore three lakh rupees, today it is about three lakh nine thousand crore rupees. I will be presenting a new budget on July 7 it may be (of the size) three lakh thirty to thirty five thousand crore rupees," Siddaramaiah said.
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Addressing the newly elected legislators, he said, "the present budget is around three lakh nine thousand eight hundred and ninety six crore rupees, as I'm implementing five guarantees, I will have to provide rupees forty thousand crore for it, for the remaining period. A total of fifty nine thousand to sixty thousand crore rupees is required for five guarantees."
Noting that the previous BJP government had presented a budget in February by taking a vote on account for four months, the CM said, the budget he will be presenting on July 7 will come into force from August 1.
Urging the legislators to try to learn and understand budgets, he also asked them to learn about taxation, stating the rich should be taxed, not the poor.
The five guarantees are: up to 200 units of free power to all households (Gruha Jyoti), Rs 2,000 monthly assistance to the woman head of every family (Gruha Lakshmi), 10 kg of free rice to every member of a BPL household (Anna Bhagya), Rs 3,000 every month for unemployed graduates and Rs 1,500 for unemployed diploma holders, both in the age group of 18-25 (YuvaNidhi), and free travel for women in public transport buses (Shakti).
While the government has already launched the scheme which will provide free travel for women in public transport buses, the other four schemes are in various stages of implementation, and the timeline has already been fixed for their rollout.
Speaker of the Assembly U T Khader, Chairman of Legislative Council Basavaraja Horatti, Housing Minister Zameer Ahmed Khan, Assembly Secretary M K Vishalakshi were present at the inaugural of the training.
The Legislature Session is scheduled from July 3 to 14.
Suggesting that MLAs and MPs should understand the "meaning" of budget, the CM said, "in the 12th century, 'Kayakayogi' Basavanna spoke about budget. 'Kayaka' and 'Dasoha' are the key factors of the budget. Kayaka means production, Dasoha means sharing."
He explained that the value of the budget is just understanding where the production is and to whom we distribute it in the society.
The Assembly is the temple of democracy, Siddaramaiah said, as he called upon legislators to raise people's problems effectively in the Lower House and develop a mindset to seek solutions.
Those who do not read and understand the Constitution cannot become good legislators and parliamentarians, he said, "So read the Constitution and understand its basic principles and objectives."
"We made the rules of the House ourselves. He said that if you read and understand it properly, people's problems can be brought before the house in a proper manner....We cannot make laws contrary to the Constitution. Therefore, reading the constitution is essential," he said.
Out of 224 MLAs, 70 have entered the Legislative Assembly for the first time. Former MP and former Union Minister K H Muniyappa (now minister in state government), former Minister and mining baron G Janardhana Reddy are among them.
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Ahmedabad plane crash: Six months on, college hostel lies in ruins, sans bustle of students
Ahmedabad (PTI): Six months after the AI-171 plane crash, the B J Medical College hostel complex in Ahmedabad stands as a haunting reminder, with its charred walls and burnt trees replacing the once lively chatter of students with an eerie stillness.
Scattered across the crash site are grim remnants of daily life - burnt cars and motorcycles, twisted beds and furniture, charred books, clothes and personal belongings.
The Atulyam-4 hostel building and the adjoining canteen complex stand abandoned, with entry strictly prohibited.
For residents near the site, memories of the incident still linger, casting a lasting shadow on their lives, with some of them saying they are still afraid to look up at the sky when an aircraft passes overhead.
On June 12, Air India flight AI-171, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner bound for London, crashed moments after take-off from the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, killing 260 persons.
The aircraft slammed into the BJ Medical College hostel complex in Meghaninagar, turning a lively student neighbourhood into a landscape of ruin and grief.
"The area now lies very silent, only a few birds chirp here," Sanjaybhai, a security guard deployed at the premises by authorities to prevent trespassing, told PTI.
Mahendrasingh Jadeja, a general store owner whose shop is just 50 metres from the point where the aircraft struck, described it as an unimaginable calamity. "In all my years, I have never seen anything like this."
Pointing to a tree behind his shop, the 60-year-old said the aircraft first struck there before crashing into the hostel building.
"It was a scorching summer afternoon. Not many people were outside. When I heard a loud crashing sound, I ran out of my shop. We were all terrified," he recalled.
"Even today, we instinctively look up whenever a plane passes overhead," he added.
Another local, Manubhai Rajput, who lives barely 200 metres from the site, said he witnessed the horror unfold on June 12.
"The plane was flying unusually low. Before I could understand what was happening, there was thick black smoke and a deafening crash," he said.
For over three decades, Rajput and his neighbours lived close to the airport without giving much thought to the aircraft overhead.
"We never looked up at the sky. But that day is etched in my mind. The plane hit a tree first, and then there was a loud sound," he said.
Rajput recalled how hundreds of locals rushed to the site even before police, fire services or the Army arrived.
Tinaben, another resident of Meghaninagar, said she never imagined something like this could happen in Ahmedabad.
"Despite being close to the airport, this area always felt safe," she said.
As an aircraft roared overhead during the conversation, Tinaben paused, looked up nervously and said, "It's still scary."
A senior official of Civil Hospital Ahmedabad, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the state government has yet to decide what to do with the damaged site.
Currently, investigations are going on and the site is strictly prohibited for people, he added.
