Bangalore: Yeddyurappa Presents Pro-Rural, Pro-Farmer Budget
DHNS
Karnataka government will provide free power for farmers from August 2008 in an effort to fulfill one of the election promises made by BJP.
Bangalore, Jul 17: Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa presented a pro-farmer budget that also focuses on urban infrastructure development in the first budget session of the Karnataka Legislature after the BJP came to power in Karnataka. The Chief Minister who holds the Finance portfolio, spent more than a month in preparing the budget. He began his budget speech with a poem penned by Rashtrakavi Kuvempu.
Calling his hat-trick budget a 'pro-farmer' one he appealed to the centre to check the rate of inflation. The rise in petro fuel prices has had a huge impact on the financial situation, he said.
However, in an effort to keep the promise made by the party during elections, he proposed to provide free power for farmers from August 2008 and allocated 2050 crore for the purpose. He said the target for this year would be to produce 1000 megawatts of power.
On the infrastructure side, he said there would be high speed rail to Bengaluru International Airport in Devanahalli near Bangalore. A bio –IT park in Bangalore, direct communication link from Vidhana Soudha to Taluk and district power centres, and an allocation of 700 crore for Metro rail, Mono rail in Mysore, Mangalore and Udupi, raising the retirement age of State government employees to 60 years, were among his other proposals.
The government also proposed development of "Suvarna Karnataka Development Corridor", and Rs 10 crore was earmarked to prepare the plan report. The proposed corridors are: Bidar-Bangalore via Chitradurga, Tumkur-Honnavar via Shimoga, Chitradurga-Mangalore via Udupi and Bangalore-Belgaum via Hubli.
Highlights of the budget:
- Up to 8th Standards, 7 lakh students to get free bicycles
- Physically challenged to get RS 1000 monthly allowance
- Agricultuarl loan 3 percent interest
- 700 crore for Metro rail projects
- Senior Citizen to get RS 25 off on monthly bus pass
- High speed rail to BIA
- 136 crore for Hubli-Dharwad transportation
- 950 crore for Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan
- 1800 crore for Bangalore’s improvement.
- 37 ITI institutes to be upgraded
- Cyber centers at grampanchayat level
- Free Electricity for farmers from Aug 2008, 2050 crore sanctioned
- 5 crore for Rajkumar memorial
- 30 crore for the improvement of Basava Kalyan
- Retirement age for state government employees up to 60 years
- 136 crore for drinking water scheme in Hubli-Dharwad
- New railway lanes from Gulbarga-Bidar
- Hubli to have international airport
- Four corridors to come up: Bangalore-Hubli-Belgaum corridors, Tumkur-Shimoga-Honnavar corridors, Chitradurga-Udupi-Mangalore, Bidar-Chitradurga-Bangalore
- 40 multilevel parking facilities in Bangalore
- 20 crore for Vishwa Kannada Sammelan in Belgaum
- BBMP to get 300 crore
- Multi specialty hospitals in Indiranagar
- Bangalore to have a Bio-IT park
- KSRTC to get 3200 new buses
- Vidhana Soudhas to be directly linked to District Taluk offices
- 36 crore Kims Hospital in Hubli
- Emergency ambulance service in rural areas
- Higher education loan at 6 pc interest
- 3000 crore for peripheral ring road
- 60,000 houses to be built in BDA lay out, Kempe Gowda Nagar
- License given to set up 1000 liquor shops across the state