HOW A FORGOTTEN GUARANTEE CAN SAVE SIDDARAMAIAH

The post facto conditionalities of the government are a giveaway of the tight fiscal situation the guarantees created

- SUGATA SRINIVASARAJU

THE Congress government in Karnataka is settling down as quickly as it can. It has made decent progress with the five big welfare guarantees it made during the assembly elections.

The inclusive and representational victory that the party achieved had brought pressure on it to roll out the guarantees, not in phases, not in parts, but in their entirety. What that entirety is, became a matter of interpretation after the polls.

Instead of emotionally rushing to fulfil the welfare promises, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah paused like a seasoned administrator, took a hard look at the coffers, and cautiously moved ahead by introducing certain conditionalities. Given his past experience in handling the finance portfolio, one can be sure that he fully understands what he has committed his government to do. After having become chief minister for a second time and having declared that what just got over was his last election, there is no basis to suspect that he functions with an after-me-the-deluge attitude regarding the state's finances. He may be looking for a legacy.

The total cost to the exchequer from the five welfare schemes is rather hazy. It is variously pegged between ₹50,000 crores and ₹1 lakh crores per annum. To offer some perspective, the total size of the Karnataka budget is around ₹3 lakh crores. Even as speculation has run wild, the government has not clarified the total figure because it does not have a final figure. It will be known only after payments hit the accounts of beneficiaries and after all concessions and losses are fully accounted for.