Now, Yeddyurappa too Joins Austerity Bandwagon
From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network

Bangalore, Sept 17: Emulating the example set by the Congress-led UPA regime at the Centre in following austerity measures, Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa has also promised to take up the same route.

The Chief Minister, who reached Gulbarga on a short visit on Thursday to inaugurate the Hyderabad Karnataka Liberation Day celebrations, told reporters that he would convene a high level meeting of senior government officials to chalk out a strategy for austerity measures to be adopted by the state government and chalk out the roadmap for cutting down wasteful expenditure.

It may be recalled that Union Finance Minister Pranab Kumar Mukherjee had asked his cabinet colleagues like External Affairs Minister S M Krishna and his junior minister Shashi Tharoor as well as newly appointed chairman of the Unique Identity Scheme Task Force Nandan Nilekani to give up their stay in posh star hotels as part of the austerity exercise. Incidentally, the Congress president Sonia Gandhi had flown to Bangalore by Air India to participate in the Infosys function at Mysore in the economy class after ordering a 20% cut in the salaries of all party MPs. The party’s heir-apparent Rahul Gandhi, MP, had also travelled by train.

Yeddyurappa, who saw nothing wrong in visiting China with a 30-member official delegation comprising senior cabinet ministers like Large and Medium Industries Minister Murugesh Nirani, Rural and Panchayat Raj Minister Shobha Karandlaje and many others including senior officers, obviously has decided that he should not become a target of public criticism by continuing the present tendency of expenditure.

The Chief Minister said the financial situation in the state was showing definite signs of upswing and the resource mobilization in the key departments like the excise, Transport, commercial taxes and others had shown remarkable improvement when compared to the first three months of the current financial year.

However, he admitted that the resource mobilization in the first quarter of the financial year was not encouraging and below the fixed targets.

``But the concerted action and some tough talking made the officials to improve the resource mobilization had produced the necessary results,’’ he said pointing out that the first two months of the second quarter of the financial year yielded remarkable improvements in the resource mobilization.

The Chief Minister asserted that the Government ``wanted to surpass resource mobilization made last year.’’

``The recession is continuing to have its impact on the resource mobilization exercise in the state and we would make all effort to ensure that the resource mobilization levels does not go down beyond the last year’s collections,’’ he claimed.

Yeddyurappa, who is also holding charge of the Finance portfolio, explained that the Centre had allowed states to resort to higher fiscal deficit of 3.50 per cent against the 3 per cent limit during the last financial year. But Karnataka maintained its fiscal deficit at 3.36 per cent.

``This year too, the Central government had raised the fiscal deficit levels of the states to 4 per cent and the state hopes to mobilize Rs 2000 crore from the permitted fiscal deficit by raising loans and floating bonds and debentures,’’ he said.

He said that the Government proposed to bring in changes to the Major Mineral Act to increase the tax base on major minerals to generate additional revenue of Rs 400 Crore. Assistance from the World Bank and the ADB would also availed to take up development works in the state.

To a question, Yeddyurappa said that there was no change in the proposal to hold the Global Investors Meeting in Bangalore in January next year.

Cooperation Minister Lakshman Savadi, Chairman of the High Power Committee for Implementation of the Recommendations of the Nanjundappa Committee Shashil G Namoshi and Animal Husbandry Minister Revu Naik Belamgi were also present.

Apart from participating in the Hyderabad Karnataka Liberation Day celebrations by unfurling the national flag near the statue of Sardar Vallabhbahi Patel in Gulbarga, the Chief Minister would be addressing a public meeting near the statue and flag off a procession of schoolchildren as part of the celebrations. Later, he would participate in an official function of the celebrations at the S M Pandit Auditorium and honour freedom fighters and eminent personalities from different walks of life in recognition of their services to society.  He would also lay the foundation stone for the Suvarna Swatantra Horatagarara Bhavan and take part in a felicitation function organised by the Nijasharana Ambigara Chowdaiah Jayanti Celebration Committee at Ganga Nagar.