CM sets August 30-deadline to roll out budget promises

Under pressure to get going, Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy has set an August 30 deadline for implementation of promises made in his as well as his predecessor’s budget.

Accordingly, Chief Secretary T M Vijay Bhaskar has directed all heads of departments to issue orders for projects announced in the two budgets within the deadline.

“Projects below Rs 10 crore can be directly implemented by seeking approval of the minister concerned and consulting related departments. Projects above Rs 10 crore will need Cabinet approval. Also, such projects will require opinions to be sought from related departments for preparation of the Cabinet note,” Bhaskar has stated in his note.

In a bid to stave off criticism, Kumaraswamy has repeatedly sought time for his government to deliver. His August 30-deadline has left IAS officers - additional chief secretaries, principal secretaries and secretaries - scrambling for cover, holding marathon meetings to finalize modalities involved in implementing various budgetary promises.

On February 16, 2018, the then chief minister Siddaramaiah presented a please-all budget sized Rs 2.09 lakh crore, which was the Congress’ last before the Assembly elections. On July 5, Kumaraswamy presented a budget of Rs 2.18 lakh crore amid pressure from his predecessor that he should settle for a supplementary budget and not a full-fledged one. Kumaraswamy has claimed that both budgets will be implemented together. “I will hold a meeting once every 15 days to review implementation of these projects,” Bhaskar has stated.