No State has been discriminated against in Union Budget, says Union Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy

Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Steel H.D. Kumaraswamy said here on Sunday that no State has been discriminated against in the Union Budget as being alleged by the Opposition.

Interacting with presspersons in the city, Mr. Kumaraswamy said the Congress criticism was similar to the one he faced as Chief Minister.

“When I presented the Budget the Congress dubbed it as Mandya Budget,” said Mr. Kumaraswamy. A special package was promised for Andhra Pradesh when the State was divided into two and it was approved by the UPA government, while with respect to Bihar the package was for constructing barrages to ward off floods and run-offs owing to rains in Nepal, said Mr. Kumaraswamy.

He listed out a slew of Central government projects announced in the Budget for employment generation, upskilling, education, infrastructure etc., and said that the benefits are for all States. “Just because a few States are mentioned does not mean that others have been ignored,” the Minister added.

On criticism that he has not flagged the concerns of Karnataka, Mr. Kumaraswamy said that he holds multiple meetings with officials and departments concerned regularly to resolve issues pertaining to the State.

On the devolution of funds to Karnataka, Mr. Kumaraswamy said that it was higher under the NDA than under the Congress-led UPA government.

On the budgetary allocation for Karnataka, Mr. Kumaraswamy said that 2.4 lakh houses have been approved for the State under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, while it has been envisaged to provide tap water connections to 53 lakh households under the Jal Jeevan Mission.

‘’Though nearly ₹50,000 crore has been released to Karnataka for implementation of the Jal Jeevan Mission, has the State monitored the project to ensure that there was adherence to quality,” questioned Mr. Kumaraswamy.

The Central allocation for highway projects in Karnataka had also increased over the last few years, he added.

Revival of public sector units

The Minister said that he was working to revive some of the public sector units that were on the verge of closure. “I want to replace disinvestment with a new phrase – reinvestment and am working on it,” said Mr. Kumaraswamy.

But he conceded that it was a tall order and he had to speak to different Ministries and the Prime Minister apart from turning a loss-making unit to profitable one, so as to serve as a template for reviving other public sector units, Mr. Kumaraswamy added.

The Minister said it was in this connection that he had paid a visit to some of the PSUs like VISL, HMT etc. “Give me seven to eight months before questioning me on this,” remarked Mr. Kumaraswamy.

Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar, Mysuru MP, S.R. Mahesh, former MLA, and others were present.