Siddaramaiah said the Karnataka welfare schemes were not "freebies",
Presenting his record 14th budget in the Legislative Assembly, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah announced on Friday that Rs 52,000 crore will be spent annually to fulfil the Congress party's five key election guarantees, set to benefit an estimated 1.3 crore families.
The 2023-2024 budget, with an outlay of over Rs 3.27 lakh crore, includes plans to provide additional financial assistance of Rs 4,000 to Rs 5,000 per month to each household as part of these promises. The pledges include free bus travel for women, 200 units of free electricity, 10 kilograms of free food grains for the poor, Rs 2,000 for the woman head of the house, and an unemployment benefit of up to Rs 3,000.
These five guarantees are believed to have been instrumental in securing the Congress party's decisive victory in the Assembly elections. In the 224-member Assembly, the Congress emerged victorious, bagging 135 seats, while the BJP secured 66 and the Janata Dal-Secular or JD-S claimed 19.
"They are not freebies, they are the fruits of development supposed to be shared with the poor," Siddaramaiah said, attacking the previous BJP government for Karnataka's "deteriorated finances".
By presenting his 14th budget as Finance Minister, Siddaramaiah set a record, surpassing the late Ramakrishna Hegde, a former Chief Minister who presented 13 budgets.
In his budget speech, the Karnataka Chief Minister also announced an increase in additional excise duty on beer from 175 per cent to 185 per cent.
The budget session of the Karnataka Legislature started on Monday, with Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot emphasising the need to eradicate corruption in the state. The Congress party and the opposition BJP have braced themselves for a confrontation, both within and outside the Assembly.
The Governor has also called for a people-centric economy in the next five years, highlighting the 'Yuva Nidhi' scheme under which unemployment benefits will be provided to diploma holders and graduates. Other schemes include 'Gruha Jyoti Yojana', 'Gruha Lakshmi', and 'Shakti', all aimed at the empowerment of women and the upliftment of the poor.