Pics: Spoorthi Ullal
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (DV)
Mangaluru, Mar 16: Former union minister and Congress leader B Janardhan Poojary on Monday March 16 lauded the state budget presented by chief minister Siddaramaiah and said that the CM is fulfilling the dreams of Mahatma Gandhi and Indira Gandhi by presenting such a budget.
Addressing a press meet at the district Congress office here, Poojary said, "Indira Gandhi's era is back once again. The CM is fulfilling the dreams of Mahatma Gandhi and Indira Gandhi by presenting a good budget which is useful to all classes and sections of people.
"By providing 25 kg of free rice to the poor, the CM has fulfilled Indira Gandhi's call for 'Garibi Hatao'. No other CM has done this, neither Mayawati who is a Dalit CM, nor any other Congress party CM," he lauded.
"This is not a budget for Ahinda, it is for all people. This budget gives importance to primary and high school education by allocating Rs 16,200 crore. No one has alloted such a huge amount for education. The CM has even alloted huge amounts for health and irrigation sectors," he added.
"Also, Rs 2 lac loans will be given at 2 percent interest and 50 percent subsidy to toddy tappers. The announcement to allow extraction of neera from coconut trees will help coconut growers," he said.
"Though it does not focus on it, the budget also gives importance to Ahinda with an aim to develop the backward classes and minorities and bring them to the mainstream and educated them," Poojary said.
He also urged the state government to form a separate department to look after the implementation of the programmes and also to work against corruption. "People should click photos of officials cheating or indulging in corruption or failure of implementation of programmes, and send them to the department. People should function as watchdogs, which will help in reducing corruption. I also urge all organizations to work towards this goal and not simply shout slogans or hold annual days," he said.
He applauded Arvind Kejriwal and his AAP and said, "Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP has already formed such a department in Delhi. Full marks to him for doing so."
Criticizing the union government, he said, "The union government was supposed to give Rs 11,700 crore to the state but it has given only Rs 7,031 crore. MPs of Kerala irrespective of political affiliations protested outside their Assembly; similarly all MPs and cabinet members of Karnataka state should fight against the union government over this issue. If they do so, they will be blessed, or else taught a lesson by the people."
He also said that the union government is now engaged in a new work of 'spying' on leaders like Rahul Gandhi and Veerappa Moily. "But we will not be afraid of this," he asserted.
Commenting on the recent VHP Hindu Samajotsva at Nehru Maidan in which Congress member Vijaynath Vittal Shetty had also taken part, he said, without naming Shetty, "Our party members also attended the Samajotsava and they also claimed that religion is more important to them than the party. What kind of Hinduism is the one propogated by BJP, Sangh Parivar and the Bajrang Dal which preaches hatred - is it good? Hindu religion means loving everyone, living in harmony and treating everyone as god's children and working for development; and not sowing the seeds of hate. I am not against saffron, it has its own respect and divinity."
He further said that from past few days he has been receiving calls from unknown numbers, but he is unabled to call the numbers back. He said he would write to the mobile network company regarding this.
Asked to comment on recent incidents of moral policing, he called it an uncivilized act.
He also congratulated Jacintha Alfred on being elected as the new mayor of Mangaluru.
Mayor Jacintha Alfred, Nazeer Bajal, T KSudhir, Vijaykumar Shetty and others were present.