State on the verge of bankruptcy: Ashok

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Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly R. Ashok on Tuesday alleged that Karnataka was “on the verge of bankruptcy” and wondered whether it had financial strength to handle the drought, while reading out a note by the Finance Department which said State had exhausted its borrowing capacity to meet budgetary announcements for 2026-27 and taking up any new schemes would lead to cutting down allocations from other departments.

The note displayed by Mr. Ashok, during debate in the Assembly on drought, said that State did not have space to borrow any more money to fund new projects.

Reading out from the Finance Department’s note, he said, “The State government has a balance cost of works of more than ₹2 lakh crore. The pending bills from PWD, Water Resources, Minor Irrigation & RDPR alone is to the extent of ₹36,136 crore. Already cash crunch including funds for salaries is being faced by transport corporations, irrigation corporations and electricity companies.”

He said the note had clearly stated that the fiscal deficit had stood at 2.95% as against the permitted level of 3%. The revenue deficit was at ₹22,957 crore and the cumulative liabilities compared with the GSDP had touched 24.94% as against the permitted level of 25%.

Terming the Finance Department’s note as a “slap on the face of the government”, Mr. Ashok remarked that the note had exposed the State government’s financial condition. Pointing out that the Finance Department’s note had been issued on September 17 itself, he wondered if the new proposals announced by the Chief Minister during his visit to Mangaluru and Kalaburagi would become reality.

“Drought has gripped the State and farmers are migrating. But the government treasury is empty and there is a financial drought,” he said.

Mr. Ashok alleged that despite having advance warning about drought from the IMD as well as Centre, the government had failed to take precautionary measures. Even the declaration of drought had been delayed by four months, he said.

Accusing the government of being apathetic with respect to drought relief, he maintained that the ruling Congress leaders themselves were anguished with such an attitude. “Senior MLA H.K. Patil has warned that he will resign if Gadag district is not included in the drought-hit list. Another senior leader Appaji Nadagouda has said he will sit on a hunger strike. This clearly shows that the Congress MLAs themselves are upset with the government’s inaction related to drought relief,” he said.

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