Karnataka budget: Forest dept blames governor-chief minister feud

Forest officials feel the budget has meted out a step-motherly treatment to their department.

An official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that chief minister BS Yeddyurappa had spent only about 10 minutes in a pre-budget meeting.

“When the meeting was taking place, the chief minister got the news of the governor giving assent to prosecute him. Following the news, the chief minister wound up the meeting and left in 10 minutes. So, only two matters could be pointed out to him, and both of them found mention in the budget,” the official said. The meeting had discussed budgetary allocations for bio-fuels and promotion of agro-forestry.

Yeddyurappa has mentioned that Rs75 crore would be required over the next five years, at the rate of Rs15 crore a year, for two bio-fuel schemes, Hasiru Honnu and Baradu Bangara, under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. He also said that the state bio-fuel board would release Rs25 crore for the scheme.

The budget proposed Rs50 crore for a scheme to achieve 33% forest cover in the state. The scheme, formulated by the agro-forestry, would be carried out with active participation of farmers.

“The betterment of the 27 wildlife sanctuaries and five national parks has been ignored. While the Central government allots funds for tiger reserves and national parks, they come in the form of grants through various Centrally-sponsored schemes,” he said.