Siddu says Centre giving stepmotherly treatment to K'taka

Belagavi: Former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday said that the central government has failed to release funds for the flood-affected despite nature’s fury and has been giving stepmotherly treatment to the Karnataka state.

Addressing pressperson during his visit to the flood-affected areas he said Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman conducted an aerial survey of the flood-affected only for namesake.

” Though the state reeled under severe floods for over 20 days not a single penny has been released by the Centre,” he said.

He further expressed, “The calamity relief fund of Rs 1029 crore released by the Centre was for the severe drought situation faced during the previous Rabbi season and report submitted by the state in the month of February last. It cannot be taken as flood relief funds as being propagated by the leaders of the BJP.”

Siddaramaiah further speaking about the Indira Canteen scheme said that it was a programme for the poor and the state government had to release funds. State’s budget was over Rs 2 lakh thousand crores and Indira Canteens require Rs 300 crore, a small amount as compared to the budget.

Indira Canteens, the pet project of the previous Congress government to provide highly subsidised food to the urban poor, is on the verge of closure as neither the state government nor the Bengaluru corporation (BBMP) have made any budgetary allocations.

The Congress has been accusing the BJP of planning to shut down the Indira Canteens, named after former Prime Minister late Indira Gandhi, though chief minister B S Yediyurappa had repeatedly said none of the pro-poor schemes will ever be wound up.

Taking a cue from Amma Canteen in neighbouring Tamil Nadu, the Congress government had started the Indira Canteens in Bengaluru on August 15, 2018 ahead of 2018 assembly polls.