Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, who is looking to double down on his Budget promises in an election year, is carrying a bag filled with many unkept vows his predecessor B S Yediyurappa made last year.
Excluding tax targets, Yediyurappa had made a total of 338 promises in the 2021-22 Budget. Most of them were implemented by way of administrative approvals and 24 of them were ongoing programmes.
But, over three dozen projects have been either dropped or are still under examination, according to the action-taken report tabled by Bommai.
At least three programmes have been dropped: a turmeric market under public-private partnership in Chamarajanagar, vocational training for students in 100 Karnataka Public Schools and the ‘Educational Leadership’ programme to develop expertise in higher education institutions in collaboration with world-class universities.
Several projects are still under examination, according to the action-taken report.
A state-of-the-art vegetable market spread over 42 acres in Gulimangala (Anekal), facelift for four regional food safety laboratories, a ‘Smart Handloom Design Studio’ with public-private partnership in north Karnataka, a new multi-specialty hospital in north Bengaluru catering to the poor and migrant workers - these and many more promises are still under review.
The government is still examining the idea of conducting a national music festival and conference to commemorate the 100th birth anniversary of legendary Hindustani vocalist Bharat Ratna Pt Bhimsen Joshi.
“We didn’t get funds, so we had to drop the ‘Educational Leadership’ initiative,” Higher Education Minister C N Ashwath Narayan told DH. “The plan was to give our faculty members some global exposure in terms of training and research. Instead, we’ve decided to strengthen the Karnataka State Higher Education Academy at Dharwad,” he added.
In the new fiscal, Narayan hoped that programmes will not be dropped. “Things are looking positive. But, everything depends on funding,” he said.
Bommai has already issued a diktat to all heads of departments that government orders should be issued giving effect to all Budget announcements.
The first government order has already come out authorising the establishment of a new cooperative milk bank with a Rs 100-crore share capital.
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