CH NEWS, RAICHUR
Minister Dr Ajay Dharam Singh has urged the Centre to provide a special grant of Rs 5,000 crore for the development of the Kalyana Karnataka region.
Speaking to reporters, Singh said the Karnataka government has a budget of Rs 4.48 lakh crore and has allocated Rs 5,000 crore for Kalyana Karnataka. He questioned why the Centre, whose budget is around Rs 52 lakh crore, could not provide a similar Rs 5,000-crore grant to the region.
If the State and Centre provide Rs 5,000 crore each, Kalyana Karnataka would receive Rs 10,000 crore and development could be accelerated, he said.
Referring to the political representation from Karnataka, Singh said the people of Kalyana Karnataka had elected five Congress MPs and questioned why the Centre had not provided greater financial support for the region’s development.
On the issue of charges on UPI transactions above Rs 2,000, Singh said he was gathering complete information about the new framework.
Under the framework announced by the Centre, person-to-person UPI transactions remain free, while a 0.4 percent Merchant Discount Rate applies to specified person-to-merchant transactions above Rs 2,000. The charge is borne within the merchant payment ecosystem, not directly by consumers.
Singh also referred to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 76th birthday and questioned why Modi had not retired after crossing the age of 75, referring to the BJP’s earlier retirement norm for senior leaders.
Responding to BJP leaders’ demand for the resignation of Minister Priyank Kharge over the alleged KPSC recruitment irregularities, Singh said the BJP had not produced any documents to substantiate its allegations. BJP leaders have been making such statements for the past 15 days to one month. There is no substance in them and they are making the allegations for publicity, he said. Singh said Priyank Kharge had already given a clarification on the issue. BOX
Referring to earlier statements by Union Minister HD Kumaraswamy about possessing a CD and pen drive, Singh said no such material had subsequently been produced. Those making such statements are effectively scoring a hit-wicket against themselves, Singh remarked.
