Karnataka: Congress govt allocates Rs 51,034 crore for five guarantees

The Congress-led Karnataka government has announced that it has earmarked Rs 51,034 crore for its flagship five guarantee programmes for the financial year 2025-26.

Chief minister Siddaramaiah made the statement on Friday on the floor of the House while presenting the budget for 2025-26. “We have allocated a budget of Rs. 51,034 crore for guarantees in the current financial year. It should be noted that we managed the guarantees within the prudent fiscal deficit norm of 3 per cent of GSDP and debt - GSDP ratio of 25 per cent for the last two budgets,” CM Siddaramaiah said.

"The budget has made sufficient allocation for all the guarantee schemes. Going beyond the guarantees, we have made a substantially higher allocation for capital expenditure in the budget. We have managed to do this even while keeping the fiscal deficit and total liabilities ratio within prudent fiscal norms and limits mandated by the Karnataka Fiscal Responsibility Act. This accomplishment is a matter of immense pride for this state,” CM Siddaramaiah stated.

“In the previous budget, I had focused on strengthening the state's economy by maintaining fiscal discipline, allocating adequate funds for public welfare and development projects. I remain committed to the same objective in the 2025-26 budget, striving to further accelerate the state's growth and prosperity,” CM announced.

The Congress government is providing Rs 2,000 monthly cash incentive through Gruha Laxmi scheme; free power up to 200 watts under the Gruha Jyothi scheme, free 10 kilograms of rice for every member of BPL family under the Anna Bhagya scheme, Rs 3,000 and Rs 1,500 monthly allowance for fresh graduates and diploma holders for two years and Shakti scheme enabling women to travel free across the state in RTC buses.

Earlier, the Karnataka chief minister sent out a clear message to continue the guarantees despite the criticism by the opposition and a section of party leaders by announcing that the guarantees are not freebies; they are strategic investments made on economic and social concerns.

The CM said this while presenting the state budget for the financial year 2025-26 at the Legislative Assembly. It was CM Siddaramaiah’s 16th budget, the highest by any leader in the state.

He began the budget presentation with lines from poets Kuvempu and Gopalakrishna Adiga.

Siddaramaiah announced that the cost of the tickets in all theatres of the state, including multiplexes here, will be capped at Rs 200.

The CM has also earmarked Rs 3 crore for creating a repository of Kannada films, both in digital and non-digital formats, to preserve movies depicting social, historical and cultural values of the state.

To improve the learning outcomes in schools, the Karnataka government will be collaborating with select private institutions, Siddaramaiah said.

For instance, an AI-based "Kalika Deepa" programme will help students in 2,000 schools to learn Kannada and English languages confidently and acquire early mathematical competencies. This is being done in collaboration with Ek-Step Foundation, he said while presenting his 16th budget in the Assembly.

In another collaborative programme called "Jnana Setu", in which schools will work with Khan Academy, science and maths will be taught using innovative methods, the CM said.

"The programme will benefit 20 lakh students and 15,000 teachers in 5,000 government schools," he added.

I-Code Labs will be set up in collaboration with Agasthya Foundation to introduce coding for students of government schools. "Under this project, 63 select schools with ICT facilities will be identified as hubs, benefiting 756 schools," he said.

He also added that an ambitious three-year programme will be implemented to ensure students from LKG to second PUC reach the learning outcomes as per their grades. "Results of SSLC and PUC is intended to be improved through these reforms."

Programmes such as 'Kalika Chilume' (to make learning joyful for students of classes 1 to 5), 'Ganita-Ganaka' (one-on-one phone-based math teaching for students of classes 3 to 5), 'Odhu Karnataka', (foundational literacy and numeracy skills for classes 4 and 5) and 'Marusinchana' (to increase the learning capacity of students from classes 6 to 10) will be implemented, the CM said.

With the success of "Vidya Vijeta" programme, in which 25,000 students of government pre-university colleges were provided CET/NEET/JEE training, another Rs 5 crore will be allocated in the current financial year to continue the programme, he said.

He also said as the pre-primary classes started in 2,619 government schools received good response with 90,195 children enrolling, the scheme will also be extended to 5,000 schools at a cost of Rs 70 crore.

According to him, Karnataka Public Schools, established during the previous tenure of Congress government, will also be expanded. "A total of 500 new Karnataka Public Schools will be started at a cost of Rs 2,500 crore with assistance from the Asian Development Bank," Siddaramaiah said.

Also, under the 'Akshara Aavishkara' scheme, select 50 schools in Kalyana Karnataka region will be upgraded as Karnataka Public Schools at a cost of Rs 200 crore, he added.