Acharya defends colleagues

Govt not violated any rules in denotification issue

Addressing a press conference at the BJP Office here on Thursday, he said that allegations are levelled against the government by the opposition only with an intention to gain political mileage. He said that the government is ready to accept the challenge made by the Governor H R Bharadwaj, who recently had stated that documents pertaining to the corruptions and scams are available with his office.

‘Rs 1,000 cr reserved’

The Minister said that the government has already reserved Rs 1,000 crore to provide infrastructure in rural areas. “The Suvarna Gramodaya Scheme has been implemented successfully in about 3,000 villages within 30 months. Funds to the tune of Rs 1,000 crore has been reserved for the implementation of drinking water supply schemes in rural areas. It has already been decided to distribute loans at one per cent interest to farmers in the State,” he said adding that the JD(S) and the Congress leaders can never dream of the achievements made by the BJP government in the State.

Rs 1,066 cr for roads

Acharya said that the government has earmarked Rs 1,066 crore to develop 20 kilometres of roads in all the 224 Assembly constituencies in the State. The tenders for the work will be invited before January 15, he added.

Refuting Congress leaders’ allegations of the BJP government implementing schemes with the funds sanctioned by the Centre, Acharya said that the Central government has not released additional funds to the State. “The Central government releases funds to all states as per the recommendations of the Finance Commission based on the tax collection,” he added.

11% GDP

While the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is only 6.7 per cent, the State has made significant contribution by recording GDP of 11 per cent, he said and added that Karnataka is the second State in the nation in terms of poverty alleviation.

Resource mobilisation

The Minister said that Karnataka has bagged the first place in the nation in resource mobilisation. “The government mobilised resource without introducing new tax,” he added.

Violation of poll code?

Advisor to the Chief Minister Dr A Raveendra has violated the election code of conduct by sharing the dais with Minister Acharya during the press conference at the BJP Office.

Raveendra also told media persons that he was speaking on behalf of the BJP. While Acharya lauded the BJP government’s achievements, Raveendra provided statistics to claim that the BJP government has made significant progress in the State.

Raveendra said that the State Plan Outlay (SPO) was only Rs 17,277 crore before BJP came to power. “The SPO has been increased to Rs 22,000 crore after BJP came to power in 2008-09. In 2009-10, the SPO was Rs 27,000 crore and it has been further increased to Rs 31,050 crore for the year 2010-11,” he explained.

Raveendra had arrived at the BJP office in a government car, which was provided to him by the district administration. When asked about the violation, Raveendra and Acharya said that the post of Chief Minister’s Advisor does not come under the purview of the election code of conduct.

Deputy Commissioner Subodh Yadav told Deccan Herald that he is aware of the incident. “I will seek a report from the election code of conduct implementing officer about the incident and take necessary action,” he added.