Nothing pending from Centre to Karnataka, says FM Sitharaman

Bengaluru, Nov 30: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday said there is “nothing pending” from the Central government to Karnataka and the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) for the drought relief to the state, which is due, will be decided once the high-power committee decides.
Speaking to reporters here, she said because Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been Chief Minister of a state for more than 10 years, he knows what it is for states to get their money in time.
“The state government can throw the allegations. He can send me the letter and much before the letter reaches me he can put it in social media, the minister or the chief minister. And I say not just this in Bengaluru, I’ve even, two days ago, when I was in Kerala, I said that,” Sitharaman said in response to a question on Congress government here alleging delay in release of Central funds to Karnataka.
“There is nothing pending from our side for Karnataka, I’m a MP from the state, I have a responsibility also. There’s nothing pending. Well if the state doesn’t send me the required paper, I will keep waiting for the paper to send it. I can’t send money, without authorisation of the Accountant General. So that’s the truth behind any allegation, the allegation without facts in them,” the Rajya Sabha member from Karnataka added.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had last month alleged that the BJP-led Union government has burdened our state by not releasing funds for 61 Centrally sponsored schemes across 23 departments, and slashing Karnataka’s tax share, resulting in a Rs 45,000 crore loss since 2020.
To add to that, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who supposedly represents Karnataka in the Rajya Sabha, decided not to approve the Rs 5,495 crore special grant that was promised, he had posted on ‘X’, adding that “alarmingly, Karnataka receives just 15 paise for every rupee it contributes in tax.”
Sitharaman today visited a ‘Jan Aushadi Kendra’ on Subedar Chatram Road here. Noting that the Prime Minister dedicated to the nation the landmark 10,000th Jan Aushadi Kendra at AIIMS, Deoghar in Jharkhand, the FM said, all over the country Jan Aushadi Kendras are steadily becoming popular among families.
Particularly the middle class and also the poorer sections are getting better informed that the same medicine equally effective is available as a generic medicine drug. (PTI)
(PTI)