Karnataka govt to table budget on March 8

PTI, Feb 19, 2021, 8:07 AM IST

Bengaluru: The Karnataka Cabinet on Thursday decided to present the annual budget for the year 2021-22 on March 8.

”Budget will be tabled on March 8. The budget session will go on till March end,” Karnataka Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Basavaraj Bommai told reporters after the Cabinet meeting.

He said the session will start on March 4 and will go on till the month-end.

There would be a debate on ‘One Nation, One Election’ on March 5.

During the meeting, the Cabinet gave its nod for road construction under the Phase-3 of Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana at an estimated cost of Rs 1,848.95 crore.

Under this scheme, 2,201.74 km road laying work will be taken up in the rural areas of the State.

The government decided to establish an Agriculture college in Chamarajanagar as announced in the 2018-19 budget.

The work will be completed in three years at an estimated cost of Rs 35 crore.

The State government also resolved to increase the compensation to land owners giving up their land for industrial projects.

The Cabinet also gave its approval to amend sections 38 and 39 of the Karnataka Money Lenders Act, enhancing punishment from six months to one year for first time offenders and two years and above for repeated offence.

The fine has also been increased from Rs 5,000 to Rs50,000.

The State government has decided to upgrade eight maternal child hospitals and two general hospitals for which Rs 199 crore sanctioned under the National Health Mission.

It also sanctioned Rs 700 crore as payments to the government and private hospitals for treating COVID-19 patients till March this year.