JOIN USOpposition leader Siddaramaiah on Friday alleged that majority of boards and corporations of the State government have been incurring huge losses due to corruption and inefficiency of their official heads.
Senior IAS, IPS and KAS officers have been appointed as Managing Directors of various boards and corporations. Majority of them are leading a luxurious life with all facilities at the cost of tax-payers’ money, he alleged while making his submission on the demand for grants in the Legislative Assembly.
“Offices of these officers are swanky and well furnished. Some of these offices are better furnished than the Chief Minister’s office at Vidhana Soudha. These officers are bothered only about luxurious lifestyle and least concerned about losses being made by the companies,” he alleged.
Except for four to five companies, all of them are incurring loss. The State government has invested Rs 38,421 crore in these companies as on 2011, but it has made only 0.11 per cent profit. The government has to either restructure these boards and corporations and encourage them to make profit or should disinvest them, he suggested.
The non-tax revenue collection has been declining over the years because of the poor performance of these boards and corporations. The government, at the same time, has not been making efforts to mobilise resources from other non-tax revenue sources.
Had the government recovered loss caused due to illegal mining as recommended in the two reports of Karnataka Lokayukta, it would have got huge revenue. Besides, no step has been taken to recover encroached government land in and around Bangalore as mentioned in the report of the then Legislature Committee headed by A T Ramaswamy.
The government has tax arrears to the tune of Rs 5,000 crore, but recovery has been zero. The ruling BJP, instead, has been busy in power politics and looting of resources, he charged.