From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network

Belagavi, Jul 7: The Narendra Modi regime has slashed allocation to the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme (REGS) in Karnataka during the current financial year.

Giving this information to the Karnataka Legislative Assembly on Monday, the State’s Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister H K Patil said the Centre had not given any reasons for the cut in the allocations.

The minister criticised the Centre’s step motherly treatment to the State and said the execution of the 15-point programme would be slowed down if the Centre reduced the financial allocation of over Rs 1,000 crore to the job scheme.

Even as the Tamil Nadu government had spent 73 per cent of the funds last year, it has been allocated Rs 3943 crore.

Karnataka had been allocated Rs 1829 crore in 2014-15, nearly Rs 1,000 crore less compared to 2013-14.

The Andhra Pradesh had been given Rs 4100 crore in April last, he said and strongly opposed the Centre’s discrimination against the State.

Replying to the demands for grants pertaining to his department in the Assembly, the Minister said he will resign from the Ministry if the Department failed to establish 7000 water purification plants by March 2016.

“I will send my resignation to the Chief Minister if I fail to make this programme a success,” he said when members cutting across party-lines criticised him for delaying the establishment of units.

The cost of each water purification unit is Rs 15 lakh, including seven years of maintenance.

A total of 750 water purification units have become operational out of 1000 units sanctioned last year.