Check pockets, Yeddy: It’s time to place orders
A win in Karnataka is definitely a moment to celebrate for the BJP but the party will need to work out how it will make good on its poll promises.
By Urmi A Goswami, TNN |
NEW DELHI: A win in Karnataka is definitely a moment to celebrate for the BJP but the party will need to work out how it will make good on its poll promises. The run-up to the elections saw BJP, Congress and Janata Dal (Secular) attempt to outdo each other with poll sops ��� be it rice at Rs 2 per kg, free TV sets, free power, or free cooking gas.
None of these parties ever explained how they would ensure that these promises would be more than just poll talk. In making good on these sops, the BJP will also have to contend with the Karnataka Fiscal Responsibility Act, (KFRA) 2002, which limits fiscal deficit to 3 per cent of the state gross domestic product.
The BJP promised to classify families earning less than Rs 30,000 per annum as ���extremely poor���, while those earning between Rs 30,000 and Rs 60,000 as poor. There are about 72 lakh families below the poverty line in Karnataka, and another four lakh families are seeking to be enumerated as BPL. The ���extremely poor��� have been promised rice at Rs 2 per kg; while the ���poor��� will get rice at subsidised rates.
Other poll promises include community health insurance scheme, Rs 1,000 award to women for hospitalised delivery, Rs 400 per month pension for widows and divorced women and physically challenged. There is also the promise to waive loans under the housing schemes like Indira Awas Yojana, and to facilitate loans at an interest rate of 3 % to farmers, weavers, fishermen and self-help groups. The list of poll promises is long and the cost of fulfilling them substantial.
So, how will the new government in Bangalore finance these promises? In all likelihood, spending on populist schemes will mean a lower outlay for human development schemes.
The state���s budget for 2008-09 presents a revenue surplus, which is estimated at Rs 2,972.65 crore. However, an increased wage bill will mean an increased expenditure of Rs 1,500 crore towards paying arrears.
The BJP will need to do a reality check on another of its promises���that of supplying free power to farmers with irrigation pumpset up to 10HP, roughly 16 lakh in number.
The state already suffers from crippling power shortages. BJP���s chief minister designate BS Yeddyurappa has said that government would pay, the cost has been worked out to Rs 65 crore. This would once again put pressure on the state���s revenue surplus. Keeping in mind the KFRA, 2002 it could mean cutting corners elsewhere.
None of these parties ever explained how they would ensure that these promises would be more than just poll talk. In making good on these sops, the BJP will also have to contend with the Karnataka Fiscal Responsibility Act, (KFRA) 2002, which limits fiscal deficit to 3 per cent of the state gross domestic product.
The BJP promised to classify families earning less than Rs 30,000 per annum as ���extremely poor���, while those earning between Rs 30,000 and Rs 60,000 as poor. There are about 72 lakh families below the poverty line in Karnataka, and another four lakh families are seeking to be enumerated as BPL. The ���extremely poor��� have been promised rice at Rs 2 per kg; while the ���poor��� will get rice at subsidised rates.
Other poll promises include community health insurance scheme, Rs 1,000 award to women for hospitalised delivery, Rs 400 per month pension for widows and divorced women and physically challenged. There is also the promise to waive loans under the housing schemes like Indira Awas Yojana, and to facilitate loans at an interest rate of 3 % to farmers, weavers, fishermen and self-help groups. The list of poll promises is long and the cost of fulfilling them substantial.
So, how will the new government in Bangalore finance these promises? In all likelihood, spending on populist schemes will mean a lower outlay for human development schemes.
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The Karnataka budget which was presented in Parliament, on account of the state being under President���s Rule, bears this out. The revised estimates for the current financial year show that revenue expenditures for several key areas such as education, health, water supply and sanitation, welfare of SCs and STs and Backward Classes are either stagnant or lower than the budgetary estimates made for last fiscal year.The state���s budget for 2008-09 presents a revenue surplus, which is estimated at Rs 2,972.65 crore. However, an increased wage bill will mean an increased expenditure of Rs 1,500 crore towards paying arrears.
The BJP will need to do a reality check on another of its promises���that of supplying free power to farmers with irrigation pumpset up to 10HP, roughly 16 lakh in number.
The state already suffers from crippling power shortages. BJP���s chief minister designate BS Yeddyurappa has said that government would pay, the cost has been worked out to Rs 65 crore. This would once again put pressure on the state���s revenue surplus. Keeping in mind the KFRA, 2002 it could mean cutting corners elsewhere.
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There is another aspect that the new government will need to consider: ensuring delivery systems so that the sops reach the intended recipient. The absence of a thinking through would make of the populist programmes like the Rs 2 per kilo PDS rice scheme extremely vulnerable. All that the BJP needs to do is look further south where Tamil Nadu���s Rs 2 per kg PDS rice scheme is being misused. Download
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