Karnataka to bring out White Paper on allocations received for centrally-sponsored schemes

In what may lead to a fresh round of tussle between the State and the Centre, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday announced that the government will bring out a White Paper on the allocations made to Karnataka for centrally-sponsored and other schemes.

Replying to a debate in the Legislative Assembly on Central allocations and development, the Chief Minister said a demand for the White Paper had been made by MLAs during the debate with an intention of creating public awareness about the actual situation with respect to Central allocations.

He said earlier, the Centre used to share 75% of the project cost of the Centrally-sponsored schemes while States were bearing the remaining 25% cost. But gradually, the Central share had reached a new low in the Narendra Modi-led government to the range of 40% to 42%, he alleged. Similarly, though the Centre was supposed to share 50% of the cost of Namma Metro, in reality the State’s share had increased as the Centre had reduced its contribution, he argued.

Size of Budget key

Countering the argument of the BJP that the Central allocations to Karnataka during this regime had increased manifold when compared to the UPA government led by Manmohan Singh, he urged them to consider the size of the Central Budget while making comparisons.

“The size of the Central Budget has increased from ₹16.63 lakh crore in 2014-15 to ₹50.65 lakh crore now,” he pointed out, while saying that increase in the Central allocation now was owing to the increase in the Budget size and it should be seen in terms of percentage share.

Reduced allocation

Launching a counter-attack, Leader of the Opposition R. Ashok alleged that the Chief Minister, who also holds the Finance portfolio, had actually reduced the allocation for various development corporations.

He said that the allocation to Dr. B. R. Ambedkar Development Corporation had reduced from ₹100 crore in 2022-23 to ₹56.25 crore in 2025-26. Similarly, the allocation for Karnataka Tanda Development Corporation Limited had reduced from ₹110 crore to ₹75 crore and that of the D. Devaraj Urs Backward Classes Development Corporation had reduced from ₹190 crore to ₹125 crore in this period, he said.

He said that the Congress government had ignored these corporations that have been constituted for the welfare of the oppressed sections.