May have to forgo salary to make up for farm loan waiver, to be presented in budget today
The Karnataka government is likely to ask MLAs and government employees to contribute salaries to make up for the farm loan waiver, which will be presented in its budget on Thursday. Estimates state that the waiver could cost as much as Rs 53,000 crore, and the Kumaraswamy government has been working to ensure that the sum is worked out.
Sources in the Karnataka government said over 60% of the waiver will be made available in the first leg of the scheme, which will be carried out in phases. Farm loan waivers have been categorised in as much as eight types; loans from nationalised banks, co-operative banks, private lenders, etc., being some of the categories. The initial waiver will cost the state between Rs 35,000 crore to Rs 40,000 crore.
MLAs could be asked to contribute a month’s salary, while state government employees might be asked for a day’s wage to make up for the deficit. As of now, over Rs 200 crore from unused MLA quota funds, including some from the MLA Local Area Development Scheme, have been identified, which will go into the loan waiver scheme.
“MLAs will be asked to forgo unnecessary expenditures and there are underutilised funds from several departments which have been earmarked for the budget,” said a Karnataka government functionary. Financial experts have also been roped in to work on a report to identify these areas, and the report has been submitted to the office of the chief minister. Tax collection routes will also be tightened to ensure that funds are not underutilised.
The presentation of the state budget has been a bone of contention between the Congress and the JD(S), with former CM Siddaramaiah insisting on an interim budget, and with both the parties differing on farm loan waivers. A coordination committee formed to look into the Common Minimum Programme, that fuses the manifesto points of both the parties, finally decided that a full-fledged budget will be presented July 5.
Congress president Rahul Gandhi tweeted about the budget on Wednesday, saying it could turn out to be a “beacon of hope” for Karnataka’s farmers.
Analysis
The issue of MLAs contributing salary could be a tricky one as the govt cannot enforce the same.
The coalition parties, Cong & JD(S) however could ask their MLAs to forgo a month’s salary.
This would put Oppn BJP in a fix as they too will have to toe govt line, lest they don’t want to be seen as anti-farmer.
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