JD(S) demands White Paper on State finances

JD(S) leader Y S V Datta said on Sunday that several State government schemes and programmes are suffering due to paucity of funds and demanded that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah bring out a White Paper on the financial situation of the State.

Addressing reporters here, he said that the government had recently received a proposal from all MLAs on taking up works related to drinking water and road repairs in their constituencies.  The government had assured to release Rs 2 crore to every Assembly constituency for this purpose. But the plan to release money has now been dropped, he added.

In another instance, the chief minister, who also holds the Muzrai portfolio, had assured to release Rs 250 crore for rejuvenating prominent temples in the State. But officials in the Finance department have not approved the proposal due to a resource crunch, he pointed out. Datta said that the government has lost control over the bureaucracy. 

The ministers have become puppets in the hands of IAS officers, he added. “The way the government is handling the ongoing agitation of medical doctors is a testimony to this. People had high hopes on the Siddaramaiah government but have now become disillusioned,” Datta said.