Union Budget Brings No Benefit to Karnataka: Deputy CM Shivakumar
Bengaluru: Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Sunday said that there was no benefit to the state from the union budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Parliament.
However, he said that he had not yet examined the budget in detail.
Shivakumar said, “The central budget is of no use to our state. I was observing this. They have now named a program after Mahatma Gandhi (after repealing the MGNREGA act named after Gandhi).”
While demanding the return of the MGNREGA act, he also made it clear that the new rural employment legislation VB-G RAM G, enacted with 60:40 per cent fund sharing formula between the Center and state governments, cannot be implemented, he told reporters here.
“I cannot see a large share for our state from this budget,” he said.
Shivakumar, who is also the Minister responsible for the development of the city, stated that there are expectations from the central budget for Bengaluru, and that Prime Minister Narendra Modi called it a “global city”, “but what has the central government done for this?” he said.
He also highlighted the problems faced by sugar mills, especially those in the cooperative sector, due to the central government’s lack of decisions or measures to help them.
The Center has the right to fix MSP for farmers’ produce. “They will have to take necessary measures to help the farmers,” Shivakumar added.
