CPI(M) stages protest against State Budget in Kalaburagi

Members of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) staged a protest outside the Deputy Commissioner’s office in Kalaburagi on Saturday, criticising the State Budget presented by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday.

The demonstration was led by district secretary K. Neela. After the protest, the party leaders submitted a memorandum addressed to the Chief Minister through the office of the Deputy Commissioner, outlining their objections to the Budget proposals.

Speaking on the occasion, Ms. Neela said the ₹4.48 lakh crore State Budget, presented as a pro-people Budget aimed at the development of all sections, in reality favours private and corporate interests. She alleged that the Budget places an additional burden of ₹1.34 lakh crore in borrowings on the State and reflects an increasing dependence on loans to meet government expenditure.

The memorandum also criticised the State government for not indicating any opposition to the labour codes introduced by the BJP-led Union government and for failing to address issues related to land acquisition carried out under the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board Act.

It stated the Budget did not propose solutions for those affected by land acquisition or for the regularisation of land cultivated under bagar hukum and forest lands.

The party expressed concern over allocations for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act scheme. It said that although the sharing pattern between the Centre and the State had changed to 60:40, the allocation for the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Department had been reduced to ₹26,559 crore, ₹176 crore less than the previous year.

This, it said, indicated a weakening commitment to employment guarantee programmes in rural areas.

“The Budget failed to provide adequate relief to farmers facing agrarian distress and did not contain strong measures to protect agricultural land and improve farm productivity. While proposals to establish new multi-speciality hospitals and upgrade existing healthcare facilities were welcome, opening such initiatives to private participation could benefit corporate interests,” Ms. Bali, another party leader, said.

In the education sector, she argued that expansion proposals were insufficient and criticised the policy of promoting Karnataka Public Schools, alleging that it could lead to the closure of nearby government schools in rural areas. It also opposed proposals to simplify permissions for opening private schools, claiming that such steps could weaken the public education system.

She expressed concern over the absence of provisions for the Yuvanidhi programme meant for educated unemployed youth and criticised the alleged diversion of funds earmarked under the Scheduled Caste Sub-Plan and Tribal Sub-Plan for other schemes.