State budget today: Will CM make Bengalureans smile?

Shyam Sundar Vattam | NT

When Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai stands up on Friday to present his maiden Budget, what will his top priorities be? Will Bengaluru secure a lion’s share of budgetary resources or will the CM devote more attention to less developed parts of the state including North Karnataka from where he hails? Is a populist budget with a bevy of ambitious schemes on the cards with the Assembly elections now just a year away?

Sources say that with Bengaluru home to as many as 26 Assembly constituencies, it is sure to get its due. The ruling BJP has faced enough flak for its inability to give the city a much needed boost with the unseasonal rains in November last year exposing the crumbling infrastructure. That the current government took almost four months to make the several badly damaged roads motorable, was enough proof that not enough attention was paid by the BJP government to make the city more attractive and liveable.

Relief from traffic snarls, signal-free corridors, completion of flyovers, more outer ring roads, white topping and elevated road projects to improve mobility within the city-the CM has enough on his platter to deal with.

More funds are expected for basic infrastructure work in upcoming areas and existing extensions like drinking water schemes, underground drainage and more importantly roads. To put it in a nutshell, Bengalureans expect the CM to focus on three crucial elements: power- water, improved connectivity and safety. All these will need a big doleout and the CM will have to strike a balance between social and political compulsions and citizens’ aspirations.

Bommai also cannot afford to ignore sectors like the hospitality industry and retail trade which have borne the brunt of the Covid pandemic that threw the state’s economy out of gear. Due to poor revenue collection, the government has not been able to release funds for several ongoing infrastructure projects leading to cost escalation and a heavier burden on the exchequer. The government will have to set aside funds to cover the free treatment of Covid patients, free distribution of medicine kits, reimbursement of treatment costs of patients in private hospitals and the upgrading of health infra in gover nment hospitals. There are also projects started during the pre-covid era which are still pending for want of funds in the last two years.