Siddaramaiah 2.0 Budget argues for Universal Basic Income

The CM claimed 1.3 crore families would reap the benefits of the schemes introduced by the government.

Strongly defending his decision to implement five guarantees, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday said that the state government’s plan is to introduce the concept of Universal Basic Income for the first time in the country and create a new model of development.

Addressing a post budget press conference here, the chief minister claimed that with the state government set to disburse about Rs 52,062 crore annually through these five guarantees approximately, 1.3 crore families would reap benefits.

“On an average, each family will be getting benefits up to Rs 48,000 to Rs 60,000 annually in the state,” he said and added that direct cash transfer to women under Gruha Lakshmi would boost the local economy through multiplier effects.

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Siddaramaiah argued that equal distribution of wealth among all sections of the society is as important as attracting capital investment and creating more employment for the progress of the state. “Therefore, we came up with this plan to implement guarantee schemes, which are not just freebies provided to the people but are the necessities to distribute the fruits of economic development among the poor and the depressed,” he contended.

The CM said that the size of gender budget has jumped to Rs 70,427 crore from Rs 42,634 crore in 2022-23. Allocation for children has increased to Rs 51,229 crore.

Siddaramaiah said he chose not to hike sales tax on fuel. "Our way of mobilizing resources will be through strengthening tax collection system and steps will be taken to tackle tax evasion and leakage,” he said, adding that all revenue-generating departments will mop up Rs 13,500 crore additionally this fiscal.

'More money for the poor'

In his budget speech, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said his government has "strong financial logic" in putting more money in the hands of the poor. "Though the major share of GST collected comes from the bottom 60 per cent people of society, most profits of the economic system go to top 10 per cent people of society. Therefore, pro-people governments should follow the policies that re-distribute the resources among the poor. Our guarantee schemes will do this task," he said.