The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Budgetary norms flouted: Siddaramaiah

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Mar 28, 2007
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Budgetary norms flouted: Siddaramaiah

Staff Reporter

Bangalore: The former Deputy Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday criticised Deputy Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa for flouting budgetary norms by tabling a second set of supplementary estimates and modifying the loan waiver scheme for farmers.

Participating in the debate on the supplementary estimates for 2006-07, the Congress leader, who is a former Finance Minister, cautioned his successor that such meddling with budget practices would shake the foundation laid for a healthy economy.

Normally, the supplementary estimates should not exceed 10 per cent of the budget proposals. But Mr. Yediyurappa, in the two supplementary estimates, had sought approval for an additional Rs. 7,400 crore, which amounted to about 20 per cent of the budget estimates of Rs. 44,136.96 crore, which was unheard of in the history of the State legislature.

Janata Dal (U) leader J.C. Madhuswamy criticised Mr. Yediyurappa for not allocating any funds for afforestation and water conservation in the drought affected areas.

Leader of the Opposition N. Dharam Singh criticised the Finance Department for its failure to release Rs. 25 crore towards the fee subsidy for Scheduled Caste/Tribe students studying in professional colleges.

The department had not released matching grants of Rs. 2,689 crore for the six districts in which the special package for farmers announced by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was being implemented.

Adequate funds had not been provided for the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, he said.

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