Karnataka Budget 2023-24: Chief Minister’s ‘favourite city’ has nothing to celebrate
The Hindu
During his first visit to Hubballi after becoming the Chief Minister, Basavaraj Bommai had termed it his ‘favourite city’ and vowed to develop the city further
During his first visit to Hubballi after becoming the Chief Minister, Basavaraj Bommai made an emotional speech recalling his childhood, his friends and his year-long association with his ‘favourite city’. He had vowed to develop the city further taking all into confidence.
More than a year later, Mr. Bommai presented his second and last budget of his tenure as Chief Minister. However, there is nothing much for the people of Hubballi-Dharwad to celebrate. What is even worse is that there is no progress on some of the announcements made in last year’s budget.
The announcement regarding establishment of an IVF clinic at the Karnataka Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS) along with Bengaluru, Mysuru and Kalaburagi is the only new announcement for the Chief Minister’s ‘favourite city’ this time. The other few announcements are related to already initiated projects like Dharwad-Kittur-Belagavi railway line for which ₹150 crore has been sanctioned for land acquisition, development of six-lane Hubballi-Dharwad bypass road at a cost of ₹1,200 crore.
The Chief Minister has not specified the amount of grants he proposes to release for Karnatak Vidyavardhak Sangha. He also merely mentioned about the State government releasing grants for the Hubballi-Chikjajur railway line doubling project being taken up at a cost of ₹150 crore and Hosapete-Hubballi-Londa-Vasco-da-Gama railway line doubling project at a cost of ₹400 crore without specifying the exact amount.
There is no response to the demand for additional grants for Da.Ra. Bendre National Memorial Trust, grants for strengthening the National Flag Production Unit at Bengeri in Hubballi, development of Nrupatunga Hill in Hubbali, for creation of separate municipal corporation for Dharwad in the budget.
What is even more disappointing for the residents of Hubballi-Dharwad is that the Chief Minister has merely repeated last year’s budget proposals, which are yet to take off. For example, the branch of Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences and Research, which was to come up in Hubballi has seen no progress at all. Last year’s announcements on Special Investment Region for Hubballi-Dharwad and upgrading the ESI Hospital in Hubballi to a 100-bed hospital have been repeated this year.
Karnatak Vidyavardhak Sangha general secretary Shankar Halagatti expressed displeasure over not specifying the grants for the Sangha. Senior advocate and KPCC spokesperson P.H. Neeralakeri said there was nothing in the budget that indicated the Chief Minister’s association with Hubballi-Dharwad.
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