No development by the government this year..!?

Deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar said on wednesday that since the state government has announced five guarantees, no development work can be done by the government this year. Disgruntled MLAs of their party also said that they should understand that the government is in a financial crisis due to five guarantees. Sivakumar said that the government's situation will be explained to the MLAs at the congress Legislature party (CLP) meeting on Thursday. DK Sivakumar made this statement amid MLAs expressing displeasure over the government's lack of funding for development programs. "We have earmarked Rs 40,000 crore for five guarantees this year, so we cannot provide development this year," said Shivakumar, who is also the minister for Water Resources and Bangalore Urban Development.

Even in irrigation and public works, development cannot be funded, but expectations are high and we have asked the legislators to delay it as much as possible. We will explain this to them in the CLP meeting," he said. chief minister Siddaramaiah has also advised his cabinet colleagues to be patient, Shivakumar said.

Earlier this month, Siddaramaiah presented the new budget for 2023-24 in which he earmarked Rs 35,000 crore for the Congress' five promises - Griha Jyoti, Griha Lakshmi, Anna Bhagya, Shakti, and yuva Nidhi. The result is a revenue shortfall of Rs 12,522 crore.

No more grants will be given this year. The previous government had called tenders for a higher amount and liquidated everything. Grants cannot be given in the first year as the guarantee scheme is being implemented. We have informed our legislators and ministers. My irrigation department also has no grant. They should also understand that. He said that we will give money for essential work.

Blaming the previous bjp government like Siddaramaiah, DK said, "The previous government liquidated everything. They gave extra tenders. The treasury is empty, but we had to keep our promise to implement the guarantees. We kept our word in the first year. So, everyone should be patient." Even on Tuesday, Shivakumar said that the MLAs have been requested to stop asking for grants for one year. "The legislators are saying that they have promised the people. They are asking for projects in the range of Rs 10 crore to Rs 300 crore from my department. We (legislators) have asked them to put all works on hold for one year," he said.