Bengaluru, March 23 The Karnataka government presented supplementary estimates in the assembly on Monday, totaling Rs 14,767 crore in additional expenditure for the current fiscal year.
Presented by Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda on behalf of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, the supplementary estimates represent additional expenditures incurred by the government beyond the budget allocations.
The additional expenditures for the fiscal ending March include Rs 147 crore for the Sadhana Samavesha to commemorate two years of the Congress government, and Rs 223 crore for railway barricading to prevent human-elephant conflict.
According to the supplementary estimates, the government spent Rs 1.25 crore to purchase a Volvo XC90 for former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda.
It also includes Rs 1,025 crore to clear various irrigation work bills, Rs 15 crore for helicopter and air travel by the Governor, Chief Minister, ministers, and other VIPs, Rs 110 crore towards scholarship and tuition fee reimbursement for minority students, and Rs 15 crore for the development of various temples, mathas, and trusts.
The government also spent Rs 1.4 crore to print a book comprising "selected" speeches of Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot, Rs 50 lakh to clear pending electricity and water bills of ministers' residences, and Rs 10 crore towards the rehabilitation of families affected by landslides in Meppadi, Wayanad, Kerala.
Rs 5 crore each for the Brahmin Development Board and the Arya-Vysya Development Corporation, Rs 60 lakh to Supreme Court senior advocate Kapil Sibal for two appearances representing the government, Rs 5.13 crore towards bills from the Belagavi winter session of the legislature, and Rs 5.5 crore towards pending bills from the 2019 and 2021 Assembly by-elections, and the upcoming Davangere South and Bagalkot by-elections, are among the expenditures incurred.