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State is facing financial difficulties, says Thakur

Nagesh Prabhu

Governor’s observation contradicts Chief Minister’s recent statement

Governor Rameshwar Thakur being escorted to the venue of the joint Legislature Session in Belgaum on Friday by Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa, Speaker of the Legislative Assembly Jagadish Shettar and Chairman of the Council Veeranna Mathikatti.

BELGAUM: Governor Rameshwar Thakur has said that the State Government is facing financial difficulties owing to economic slowdown.

In his address to the joint session of the State Legislature here on Friday, the Governor spoke about the financial situation in the State and said almost all sectors of economy had been facing slowdown.

In his 23-page address, he said the information technology sector, which contributed a major share to the economic strength of the State, was hit by global economic slowdown. A downtrend was being experienced in the garment, automobile and other sectors of industry. There had been a marked reduction in the sale and registration of property, and consequently, revenue collection had been lower than what was anticipated.

The Governor said that the Government, however, was facing the serious responsibilities of providing adequate funds for all development projects from the State’s resources even in the backdrop of economic crisis. The Government was trying to mobilise funds for executing development projects within the framework of the Fiscal Responsibility Act, he added.

The Governor’s observation was contrary to Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa’s statement last week that despite global slowdown, the State had maintained a high revenue mobilisation, recording an average growth of 12 per cent compared to that of last year. The Government performed better compared to last year in revenue collection in respect of commercial taxes, excise and motor vehicle taxes and achieved a plan expenditure of Rs. 9,488 crore till December-end as against Rs. 7,721 crore till December 2007 registering an increase of 23 per cent, Mr. Yeddyurappa had said.

In his 50-minute address, Mr. Thakur said industries had suffered a setback on account of economic slowdown. However, “The investors are showing interest in Karnataka and the Government has accorded approval for establishing 282 industries, involving an investment of Rs. 36,000 crore. This is expected to generate employment for five lakh people,” he added.

The Governor spoke on various development projects and schemes launched by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in the past 200 days and said: “The people of Karnataka have given their verdict for stability in administration by voting the Government overwhelmingly in the recent byelections. I believe the responsibilities of the Government have further increased with this verdict of the people.”

On the issue of providing a special status to the Hyderabad-Karnataka region, which has remained backward in almost all indictors, he said the Government would urge the Centre again to amend Article 371. To implement the Nanjundappa Committee’s recommendations to overcome regional imbalances, he said the Government had constituted a high-level committee to oversee the implementation of development projects in the region. The Government proposed to construct Kannada bhavans at important places in the border areas of the State. On the development of infrastructure, Mr. Thakur said 10,000 km of roads would be developed in the first phase and a new State policy for development of roads had been adopted by the Government. Development of remaining 56,000 km of roads would be taken up subsequently in phases. These roads would be according to the guidelines of the Planning Commission and taken up with private participation, he said.

On providing connectivity to rural areas, he said the Government proposed to take up a State-wide initiative, and an integrated approach was being planned on a priority basis. Preliminary work on airports in Davangere, Bagalkot, Kushalnagar, Raichur, and Chikmagalur had begun. “It is expected that the airport in Mysore will start functioning shortly,” he said.

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