The Hindu : Karnataka News : `World Bank had a say in preparing Budget'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jul 30, 2004

Karnataka

Karnataka

`World Bank had a say in preparing Budget'

By Our Special Correspondent

BANGALORE, JULY 29. G.V. Sriram Reddy of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) said in the Legislative Assembly today that the Budget proposals indicated that the Government was taking decisions at the behest of the World Bank.

Participating in the discussion on the Budget, Mr. Reddy said the Government had earmarked six per cent of funds for agriculture; two per cent each for rural development, water supply and sanitation; and three per cent each for health and social welfare. Although the Government was aware that a reduction in the allocation for social sectors would affect the poor the most, it went ahead, allegedly to fulfil conditions imposed by the World Bank and IMF. The forces of coalition politics and the World Bank prevented the Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister, Siddaramaiah, from preparing a pro-poor and pro-farmer budget, Mr. Reddy charged.

The Budget proposed to spend 18 per cent of the revenue for debt servicing. The Government had borrowed a huge amount from the Union Government and external agencies, he said and asked Mr. Siddaramaiah to explain the logic behind presenting the surplus budget. What was the necessity of building the Vikasa Soudha when hundreds of farmers were facing a crisis and were committing suicide because of drought and crop loss? "The Budget is nothing but statistical juggling, directed by the World Bank," he charged.

Jobs for the poor

Referring to the "social justice mantra" of the coalition Government, Mr. Reddy said uplift of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and the poor could not be achieved by providing reservation in education. Efforts should be made to provide jobs to the educated poor. The Budget had focussed on small-scale entrepreneurs, and there was no proposal on setting up of medium and large-scale industries, he said.

`Set up fund'

D.R. Patil (Congress) urged the Finance Minister to set up a separate backward area development fund to mobilise resources to implement development works in 39 most backward taluks of the State.

Nagaraj Setty (BJP) demanded that the Government announce a support price for arecanut in the Budget. He also urged the Government to extend the Sarva Shiskana Abhiyan scheme to aided schools.

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