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The Karnataka Chief Minister, Mr D.V. Sadananda Gowda, has said that financial discipline was a priority for the State and not the size of the budget.
Reacting to a query on his reported plan to present a Rs.1-lakh-crore budget to promote development, Mr Gowda said that the financial discipline was his first priority.
“Size of budget should not become a constraint in implementation”, he told newspersons on the sidelines of a programme held to launch the new Web site of Information Department at his residence-Krishna.
Implementable budget
Hinting at presenting an implementable budget he revealed that pre-budget discussion with officials from the departments of Excise, Commercial Tax, Transport, Stamps and Registration was over.
Exercise to draw up budget had been satisfactory so far and he would hold discussion with farmers and youth representatives shortly, he added.
Admitting that he was under pressure to campaign for the by-polls to Udupi-Chikmagalure Parliamentary constituency, he said that that would not come in the way of preparing for budget.
“As it is my maiden budget, I wanted to study every aspect in depth before presenting the budget”, he pointed out.
He admitted that there was enough political pressure to announce populist programmes.
He said that his intention was to present a budget that would meet aspirations of every section of society, besides being far sighted.
He also hinted at cutting the unnecessary expenditure following guidelines issued by the Karnataka Administrative Reforms Commission (KARC), which objected to opening of new universities without providing the needed infrastructure.
Youth budget
On the plans to present a youth budget, he said that, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Government held consultation for one year to frame the agriculture policy, before conceptualising a ‘farmers budget' last year.
“Similar exercise will be made to draft a youth policy before presenting a separate budget for youth”, he said.
He said slowing down in agriculture and manufacturing sectors would have a cascading effect on the State and, hence, steps would be taken to strike a balance between agriculture and industrial growth.
Water and power crisis
On the power and water crisis plaguing the State, he said, drinking water and shortage of power were the major challenges before the Government.
“The Government is doing its best to address the issue and authorities have been directed to take up work on war footing”, he said.
> muralidhara.k@thehindu.co.in
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