Bengaluru: As chief minister Siddaramaiah presented the first budget of the Congress government in Karnataka on Friday, July 7, the focus of his presentation was very clear: an inclusive budget stressing new welfare schemes while ensuring that some of the key highlights of the Congress manifesto find a mention in the document.

Presenting a record 14th budget, his seventh as chief minister, Siddaramaiah devoted a considerable part of his speech to rundown the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled Centre and the previous state BJP government, underlining that their policies, refusal to devolve funds and maladministration were the reasons for dismal fiscal management.

One of the highlights of the budget speech, which Siddaramaiah took 2 hours and 45 minutes to read, was the bunch of five guarantee schemes aimed at women and youth. He earmarked Rs 52,000 crore to meet the expenses incurred by these schemes even as he chided those who criticised these “guarantees” as “freebies”. Cleverly, he mentioned that these guarantees were needed to ward off the effects of inflationary effects on the common people “resulting from the policies of the policies of the central government”. A total of 1.3 crore people are expected to be benefited by these schemes.

Ever since the election results were declared on May 13 and the BJP faced drubbing, the five guarantees have become the talking point of everybody, especially the BJP. There was a tug of war on a daily basis between the BJP and Congress over the implementation of the schemes. It must also be noted that the BJP had rarely touched upon the Congress's guarantees during the election campaign while solely devoting its campaign to Hindutva-related issues.

There was also curiosity on how the Congress government would make available the needed funds for the programmes. Everyone expected Siddaramaiah to impose heavy taxes resulting in a huge burden to the common man. However, the chief minister deftly managed the issue, refused to give the BJP and the Janata Dal(S) any room to criticise him and announced that mopping up of resources would be only in the form of 20% excise duty. Restructuring of property guidance value has been mentioned although its details are yet to be announced. Motor vehicle taxes will be revised.

Karnataka witnessed several instances of ‘moral policing’, communal incidents, murders and tensions during the tenure of the BJP government, especially in the last two years. Siddaramaiah said in his speech: “Stringent action will be taken against those who harass people in the name of ‘moral policing’, spread fake news through social media and disturb social harmony. Our government will take all measures to ensure law and order, restore peace and communal harmony in the society…. We are….committed to taking decisions on matters impacting public interest in an equitable manner by a convergence of diverse thoughts, ensuring freedom to live without fears and with interdependence of all the people. Justice is not discrimination or polarisation or creating divisions in the society.”

The previous Basavaraj Bommai government had implemented the National Education Policy. In fact, Karnataka was the first state to do so in the country. However, as promised in the Congress manifesto, Siddaramaiah announced the scrapping of the NEP.

“The NEP implemented by the Central government is incompatible with the federal system of governance. It has several anomalies which undermine the constitution and democracy. Uniform Education System does not suit a nation like India which has diverse religions, languages and cultures. A New Education Policy will be formulated keeping in mind the local social, cultural and economic milieu of the state.”

Blaming the Centre and the Bommai government for neglecting Karnataka in the devolution of funds as earmarked by the Finance Commission, Siddaramaiah pointed out that even in GST, the state has not got its share. He also blamed Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman. “Though the Union Finance Minister has been elected from our state and despite the claims of double engine government, the previous government failed in  getting these grants from the Central Government.”

The chief minister also announced that the Agricultural Produce Market Committees Act in the state would be scrapped “by amending the APMC Act, the previous government weakened the healthy marketing network and created uncertainty in the lives of lakhs of farmers who depended on APMCs for their livelihoods”.

The protest by the farmers, especially in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab, against the Centre’s farm policy, went on for more than a year. The protest ended only after the Centre announced the withdrawal of the controversial scheme. However, the then BJP government implemented the policy in Karnataka.

The delivery boys and other workers of the e-commerce sector are generally ignored. However, the state budget, recognising their plight, announced insurance coverage for them. “In order to provide social security to the ‘Gig Workers’ in the unorganised sector, i.e., employed as full-time/part-time delivery personnel in e-commerce companies like Swiggy, Zomato, Amazon, etc., insurance facility of total Rs.4 lakh will be provided which includes, life insurance of Rs. 2 lakh and accidental insurance of Rs. 2 lakh. The entire insurance premium will be borne by the government,” Siddaramaiah said.

It was also an 'Ahinda' budget. The CM earmarked funds for pilgrimage centres of the Jain community, Rs 100 crore for the Karnataka State Christian Development Corporation, for the protection of 40,000 Wakf properties in the state, for the development of Gurudwara etc.

B.S. Arun is a senior journalist based in Bengaluru.

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