Rs 27,000 cr sought for Bangalore

Rs 27,000 cr sought for Bangalore


Express News Service
First Published : 04 Feb 2009 03:38:00 AM IST
Last Updated : 04 Feb 2009 08:37:38 AM IST

BANGALORE: A plea for two different sets of budgetary allocations for Bangalore city - one for the creation of assets and the other for maintenance of existing assets are learnt to be among the recommendations that were placed before Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa during the pre-budget review meeting of the various task forces in the State on Tuesday.

An estimated Rs 27,000 crore is said to be the total allocation that is being sought for Bangalore city. The state budget is scheduled to be presented on February 20. Members of the task force on Agenda Bangalore Infrastructure Development (ABIDe), the State Knowledge Commission, Mission Group on Industrial Development are among those who were part of the closed-door pre-budget meeting.

“We have asked for a substantial increase in the allocation for Bangalore. As of now funds for maintenance and creation of assets come from the same pool. There is a gap of almost Rs 450 crore in the funds required for maintenance of roads alone. As of now only Rs 250 crore is being spent on it, while the requirement is of Rs 700 crore,” ABIDe sources said.

The government has been reportedly asked to come out with a policy on urban poor and allot Rs 10 core for a comprehensive survey of the said population.

The opinion was that while the Basic Services to the Urban Poor (BSUP) component of the Centrally-funded Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission revolves around projects, a state-level policy on delivery of services, and financing and education to the poor would be apt, sources said.

KANNADA WIKIPEDIA

An allocation of Rs 10 crore for the establishment of a Wikipedia-like portal in Kannada on Kannada and Karnataka and a separate allocation for a state-wide campaign to increase the ratio of enrollment in higher education are among the pre-budget recommendations the State Knowledge Commission has placed before Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa.

Sources in the commission headed by former ISRO chief Dr K Kasturirangan said, “Just about 11.6 per cent of the youngsters in the 18 to 24 age group in the state enroll for higher education, our recommendation is for policy measures to increase the penetration of higher education among this group.” The others in a set of five recommendations made by the knowledge commission are the establishment of a Karnataka State Research and Innovation Fund to finance research in issues that are socially relevant to the state. “The 12 sectors that are mentioned in the Vision 2020 document on Karnataka, could be the subjects of such research,” said a member of the commission who was part of the pre-budget meeting.

The commission has also called for the establishment of an institute of national importance on traditional medical sciences. District-level pharmacopoeia and digitalising medical manuscripts are envisaged under the programme.

In its recommendations on skill development and vocational training, the commission has asked the government to see that employment exchanges are eventually upgraded as career centres.