Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman refutes Congress' allegations of fiscal bias against Karnataka
fiscal bias against Congress-ruled Karnataka and non-provision of funds, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Sunday every penny due to the state is accounted for and was released on time.
Speaking at an informal interaction organised by the Thinkers Forum here in the Karnataka capital, Sitharaman said, «The claim that Rs 5,495 crore as a special grant was not released for Karnataka is totally false. The Finance Commission, in its final report, did not recommend any such special grants.»
«Under PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana, 80 crore people all across the country and 30.5 lakh from urban Bengaluru get free rations at home every month. I want to flag those guarantees that we fulfilled to help the common people, especially the poor. In urban Bengaluru, 14.68 lakh Jan-Dhan accounts were opened as against 52 crore across the country,» the Union Finance Minister added.
She informed further that under the Centre's flagship Mudra scheme, which enables skilled artisans to avail micro-credit of up to Rs 10 lakh, Rs 30,490 crores, alone, were allocated to urban Bengaluru.
«As many as 38.25 lakh beneficiaries (of the Mudra scheme) are in urban Bengaluru alone. The state also received funds under 'Stand-up India', which facilitates loans of between Rs 10 lakh and Rs 1 crore for SCs, STs, and women. In Bengaluru Urban, Rs 467 crores were distributed under this scheme. There are as many as 4,429 registered beneficiaries of this scheme in this area of the city alone. Also, 1.25 lakh street vendors in urban Bengaluru
