Budget evokes mixed reactions from stakeholders

The State Budget tabled by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday continues to evoke mixed reactions from stakeholders from different sectors.

The State Budget tabled by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday continues to evoke mixed reactions from stakeholders from different sectors.

B. Sadashive Gowda, Dean of VTU and Principal, Vidyavardhaka College of Engineering, said that ₹1,300 crore allocated for ramping up infrastructure in educational institutions to build facilities such as classrooms and toilets will provide a supportive environment for students to learn.

He said the move will also help bring the dropouts back to schools and increase the attendance of girls. In this context Prof. Gowda said the scheme of distribution of egg/peanut chikki/banana to compensate for nutritional deficiency among government school students augured well for the growth of the children.

He said the budget has encouraged establishing innovation  labs — which were limited to technical colleges — in secondary and post-graduate colleges and this will give a fillip to science education with hands-on learning and encourage the learning of new technologies.

The decision to set up 224 new hostels will be a boon to rural and poor students and will benefit students who want to pursue higher education, he said.

Meanwhile, the Hotel Owners’ Association said there was no additional tax burden on the commoners in the State Budget and was hence it was welcome. However, the association said that though the constitution of Chamundeshwari Temple Development Authority has been announced there has been no allocation for it. So is the case of airport expansion while there is no mention of a District Task Force for Tourism or Dasara Authority, said association president C. Narayan Gowda.

The Sugarcane Farmers’ Association president Kurubur Shanthakumar said there is no reference to the repeal of Land Reforms Act which is one of the major demands of the farmers. He said though ₹10,000 crore has been allocated for the Anna Bhagya scheme, the same amount can be used to procure rice and other cereals from local farmers and strengthen them economically.