Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah to table his 15th budget on February 16

PTI, Jan 19, 2024, 8:10 AM IST

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Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah who holds the finance portfolio will present the budget on February 16.

Briefing reporters, state Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister H K Patil said the Karnataka legislature session will take place from February 12 to 23.

The session will start with the joint address to the both houses of Karnataka legislature by Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot.

“The budget will be tabled on February 16 and the session will go on till February 23,” Patil added.

According to official sources, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will be tabling his 15th budget on February 16, in a record of sorts. Siddaramaiah was the finance minister from 1994-1999, and has also presented budgets as chief minister who was in charge of the Finance Ministry from 2013-18. Last year he presented his 14th budget, soon after the Congress won the May assembly elections and he became CM, taking over the finance portfolio as before. In other cabinet decisions, it has been decided that a five-member cabinet sub-committee will be constituted, headed by state Home Minister Dr G Parameshwara in connection with the dispute related to Inam Dattatreya Peeth and Baba Budan Swami Dargah.

The sub-committee will “verify the case and give its recommendation in a comprehensive way so that it helps in expressing the state government’s stand and filing the written objections and statement in the Supreme Court” in connection with an objection petition filed in the apex court by Syed Ghouse Mohiuddin Shah Khadri.

Khadri has challenged the Karnataka High Court order on a petition filed by Guru Dattatreya Peetha Devasthana Samvardhana Samithi.

The members in the panel are Minister H K Patil, Karnataka Hindu Religious Endowment Minister Ramalinga Reddy, Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda and Chikkamagaluru District In Charge Minister K J George.

The cabinet also gave its nod to increase the Karnataka Minorities Development Corporation’s (KMDC) share capital from Rs 600 crore to Rs 1,200 crore.

According to the cabinet note, the existing share capital was Rs 600 crore. Since its inception, the KMDC has got Rs 1,099 crore as share capital from the Karnataka government.

The cabinet agreed to announce the 12th Century AD social reformer and poet ‘Jagadjyoti’ Lord Basaveshwara as ‘Karnataka’s Cultural Leader’.

Basaveshwara laid the foundation of the Lingayat sect where Lord Shiva is worshipped in the form of Shivalinga. His teachings were revolutionary and considered way ahead of time.

The cabinet also gave its approval to offer guarantee to the Karnataka Electricity Corporation Limited to take on loan Rs 4,430 crore from banks and financial institutions.

The loan amount comprises Rs 1,630 crore for the year 2022-23 and Rs 2,800 crore for the current year, an official note on cabinet decision said.

The cabinet also decided that Freedom Park in Shivamogga city will be named after famous Vachanakara Allama Prabhu.

Allama Prabhu was one of the prominent figures during the revolutionary Vachana movement in Karnataka. He was also instrumental in setting up of the world’s first parliament known as ‘Anubhava Mantapa’ and also presided over its proceedings.