If govt. is bankrupt, how are mega development works getting completed: CM

Lambasting the Bharatiya Janata Party leaders for making accusations time and again against the State government going bankrupt because of guarantee schemes, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday sought to know from them if the government had gone bankrupt, how such development works like building 42,345 houses across the State were being completed.

He was addressing a huge gathering off Mantur Road in Hubballi on Saturday organised to mark the inauguration and distribution of 42,345 houses built by the Karnataka Slum Development Board (KSDB) by utilising Chief Minister’s special grants under the PM Awas Yojna across the State.

The Chief Minister said that in the last two years, the State government had spent ₹1.16 lakh crore for implementation of the five guarantee schemes. And this apart, the government had spent several thousand crores of rupees for development works in irrigation, health, education and other sectors. “For building houses alone, we have spent ₹5,500 crore in the last two and a half year. And if the government has gone bankrupt, then how are the development works getting completed?  BJP leaders don’t understand the problems of the poor and they keep on telling lies for the sake of politics”, he alleged.

Mr. Siddaramaiah said that during the previous Congress regime, they had built 14,58,000 houses against the five lakh houses that were built during the BJP regime. “Of the 165 poll promises, we fulfilled 158 during our last tenure. And of the 592 poll promises we had made before coming to power this time, we have fulfilled 243 of them already. Ours is a pro-people government and we will fulfil all of them in the remaining tenure,” he said.

Listing out the unfulfilled promises of the BJP government at the Centre and the ‘achhe din’ that never came, he urged Union Minister Pralhad Joshi to get forest and environmental clearances for the Mahadayi Project and they were ready to initiate the works immediately. He also mentioned the reduced grants to the State from the Centre.

Jai Bhim

Beginning his speech with ‘Jai Bhim’ slogan, Housing Minister Zameer Ahmed Khan said that had it not been for the Constitution of India framed by B.R. Ambedkar, people from underprivileged communities would not have been able to come to the mainstream and become leaders.

Mr. Khan reiterated the govenrment’s commitment to providing houses to the slum dwellers and those not having permanent houses, and briefed about the efforts made to reduce the burden on the beneficiaries. Lambasting the BJP leaders for playing politics, the Minister alleged that apart from playing the religion card for the sake of winning elections, the BJP was least bothered about the poor. Barring former minister Somanna who made attempts, none in the previous BJP government was concerned about building houses for the poor, he alleged.

Labour Minister and district-in-charge for Dharwad Santosh Lad said that unlike the BJP which made ‘false promises’, the Congress government worked for the poor, and said that such a mega housing project had not been undertaken in any of the BJP-ruled States in the country.

Making introductory remarks, KSDB Chairman and MLA Prasad Abbayya briefed about how coordinated efforts under the leadership of Housing Minister Zameer Ahmed and Chief Minister’s special grants had helped in building houses for the poor.

A host of Ministers, including Mahadev Prasad, H.K. Patil, Satish Jarkiholi, and several legislators, including B.K. Hariprasad, F.H. Jakkappanavar, Saleem Ahmed and others, took part in the event. Although Chairman of Legislative Council Basavaraj Horatti attended the event, he left midway due to other prior engagements.