Karnataka fails to spend money released by Centre: Pralhad Joshi

New Delhi: Slamming Chief Minister Siddaramaiah for accusing the Central Government of not releasing funds to state, Union Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi on Monday said the state government failed to spend money released by the Centre.

"It is hypocritical of Siddaramaiah to complain about pending grants of ₹4,195 crore from the Centre. Sources in his own treasury told us that more than ₹5,000 crore is available under various Centrally Sponsored Schemes of the Central Government, including in many flagship schemes such as PMAY (Rural), Swachch Bharat Mission (Urban), AMRUT, POSHAN, Samagra Siksha, etc," Joshi posted on X.

Countering allegations by the CM, the Union Minister said, instead of acknowledging financial mismanagement, the Congress government in Karnataka keeps shifting blame to the Centre to hide their incompetence and failure to deliver the Congress promises.

"If Mr. Siddaramaiah genuinely believes there is a specific scheme where the Centre has withheld funds despite Karnataka fully utilizing what was already given, let him clearly specify it. The reality is, he cannot, because his government has failed even to spend what has been released by the Centre," Joshi said.

Joshi further said ironically, even Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar admitted previously that Rs 40,000 crore had to be reserved for Congress’s populist ‘guarantees’, openly conceding that there was “no money left for development.”

"This fiscal mismanagement was further confirmed in January 2024 when the Chief Minister’s economic advisor, Basavaraj Rayareddi, revealed that Rs 58,000 crore had been earmarked for these unsustainable guarantees, " Joshi said.

The people of Karnataka deserve responsible governance, not constant political blame-games and misleading narratives. It’s high time the Congress government stopped making baseless accusations and started effectively utilising the substantial funds already at its disposal, Joshi said.

Last week, Siddaramaiah slammed the Centre for "not releasing the announced grants" for the state, which include funds for the Bhadra dam project, pensions for poor, elderly citizens and the needy, and the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS).

Siddaramaiah chaired a review meeting of the functioning of District Development Coordination and Monitoring Committees (DISHA), a government initiative that seeks to promote participative governance and deliberative democracy.