In effect, this will allow the state to raise an additional Rs 36,000 crore in loans without violating fiscal discipline under the KFRA. 

BENGALURU: With the Covid-19-induced lockdown severely affecting revenues, the Karnataka Cabinet on Tuesday approved an amendment to the Karnataka Fiscal Responsibility Act (KFRA) to increase the state’s borrowing limit to 5 per cent of GSDP instead of the existing 3 per cent. In effect, this will allow the state to raise an additional Rs 36,000 crore in loans without violating fiscal discipline under the KFRA. 

The State Cabinet has also approved plans to borrow Rs 33,000 crore out of the enhanced borrowing limit which will be spent not just as capital investment, but also as expenditure on development activities that have been stalled due to shortage of funds.  The amendment Bill will be introduced in the upcoming Assembly session. 

The Centre, in May, increased reform-linked borrowing limit for states from 3 per cent to 5 per cent for the 2020-2021 fiscal, anticipating a loss of revenue. “An amendment will be made to Section 4 of the Fiscal Responsibility Act to allow additional borrowing up to 5 per cent of GSDP.

We will borrow Rs 33,000 crore as a one-time measure. Currently, our borrowing is at about Rs 40,000-47,000 crore and an additional Rs 33,000 crore will be fresh loans. We generally borrow only for capital expenditure but this additional loan will be used for development activities too,” Parliamentary Affairs Minister J C Madhuswamy told reporters. He acknowledged that various development activities had been stalled due to dearth of funds, but added that the government had not run out of funds. 

Section 4 of the KFRA deals with Fiscal Management Principles to ensure state debts, guarantees and liabilities are maintained at prudent levels. Three fiscal parameters of the KFRA mandate adequate revenue surplus, total liabilities to be under 25 per cent of GSDP and fiscal deficit to be under 3 per cent of the GSDP. The estimated fiscal deficit for Karnataka for 2020-2021, as per the budget speech, was 2.55 per cent of the GSDP. With the borrowing limit raised to 5 per cent, the state will be able to borrow more without violating fiscal norms.In his 2020-2021 budget speech, Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa had estimated total borrowings at Rs 52,918 crore. But, in the lockdown scenario, the state has opted for additional borrowing.

Sources in the Finance Department told TNIE that despite the additional borrowing, the state may see a considerable loss of receipts. Revenue loss for this fiscal is expected to be more than the additional borrowing.  Minister Madhuswamy said that state will borrow from existing sources. Karnataka usually borrows from the Centre , open market, LIC, NSSF, NCDC, RIDF, etc. With the GST Council too asking states to opt for borrowing to offset losses arising out of GST compensation shortfall, Karnataka has told the council that it would prefer to borrow Rs 11,324 crore through a special window facilitated by the GST Council from the RBI at a reasonable rate of interest (yet to be fixed). Under this option, the principle and interest repayment will come out of compensation cess after 2022 when the first five years of the GST regime ends. A final decision on this is pending since other states have opposed the GST Council’s suggestion.

MYSURU: While Mysuru missed out on the opportunity to have its own film city, attempts are being made to start a film institute at Vishnuvardhan’s memorial on the outskirts of the city.

Anirudh, actor and son-in-law of late actor Vishnuvardhan, said that there is a plan to start a branch of the prestigious Film and Television Institute of India (FTII)- Pune next to that of Vishnuvardhan’s memorial.

“This project will help many films enthusiasts, aspirants, and budding artistes to learn the art of film making. In addition to this, an auditorium will also be constructed to conduct film and theatre festivals, besides providing quality training,” he said.

Meanwhile, the long-pending demand of Vishnuvardhan’s memorial in Mysuru is finally taking shape after a struggle for over 11 years. The foundation stone for the construction will be laid by Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa virtually on September 15, while a formal event will be held at Halalu village near Udbur on the outskirts of Mysuru, where the state government has sanctioned five-and-a-half-acre of land.

A six-feet tall statue of Vishnuvardhan will be constructed on a two-acre land. In addition to this, a museum with a collection of rare photographs of the late actor will be made available to the public.

Vishnuvardhan, who grew up in Mysuru, had a special place in his heart for the heritage city and wanted to establish a film institute here. His known circles also said that the actor had batted for a state-of-the-art film school or institute in Mysuru which would help thousands of film aspirants across the region and the state.

Prabhu Chavan underwent a test after his car driver, his gunman and personal assistant had contracted the infection and the result came out positive.

BENGALURU: Karnataka Animal Husbandry Minister Prabhu Chavan has tested positive for COVID-19, official sources said on Thursday.

The Minister underwent a test on Wednesday after his car driver, his gunman and personal assistant had contracted the infection and the result came out positive.

Officials said Chavan had been under home quarantine in Bidar after his staff tested positive on Tuesday.

The Minister’s office has requested all those who had come into contact with him recently to undergo tests and take precautions.

Chavan is the new addition to the list of Ministers in the B S Yediyurappa cabinet who had tested positive for coronavirus.

Recently Labour Minister A Shivaram Hebbar, Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister K S Eshwarappa and Women and Child Development Minister Shashikala Jolle had tested positive for COVID-19.

Last month, Yediyurappa, Health Minister B Sriramulu, Tourism Minister C T Ravi, Agriculture Minister B C Patil, Forest Minister Anand Singh were among those who had tested positive and have now recovered.

Sriramulu said that the Justice Nagamohan Das Commission has submitted its recommendations to the state government and we are optimistic on getting the 7.5 per cent reservation to tribals.

DAVANGERE: Health Minister B Sriramulu maintained that the state government is committed to providing 7.5 per cent reservation for the Scheduled Tribes.

Speaking to media persons at Valmiki Gurupeet in Rajanahalli village on Sunday, Sriramulu said that the Justice Nagmohan Das Commission has submitted its recommendations to the state government and “we are optimistic on getting the 7.5 per cent reservation to tribals”.

Stating that there is no issue of stepping back from the demand of increasing the reservation from 3.5 per cent to 7.5 per cent, he said that the commission has recommended the increase of the reservation to 5 per cent, whereas constitutionally it should be 7.5 per cent and we would pressurise Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa to increase it.

The pandemic has deferred the implementation of the Justice Nagmohan Das Commission recommendations, however, now with most of the government departments running full time, it would be easy to get the reservation enhanced, he added.

Sriramulu also said all the MLA’s of the community have given him the responsibility of bringing pressure on the government and we are going to meet again when the assembly session begins.

HUBBALLI: With increasing demand to set up a plasma bank in North Karnataka, Karnataka Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS) in Hubballi has been acting as a substitute for the last month.Critical Covid patients from neighbouring districts like Gadag, Haveri, Uttara Kannada, Bagalkot, Ballari, Koppal, Belagavi are being shifted to the hospital for treatment.Till now, more than 50 convalescent plasma therapy procedures have been conducted at KIMS and other private hospitals in Hubballi city alone. However, due to a lack of donors, most hospitals have been struggling to get plasma units.

A senior doctor from KIMS said they recently got an Apheresis machine and license from the DGCI. “We can store 200 units of plasma for a year. KIMS can distribute plasma to other hospitals,” he added.However, plasma collected at KIMS is not sufficient to treat in-house patients. “There is need to create awareness among recovered patients to donate plasma,” he said.Dharwad DC Nitesh Patil said plasma extraction costs around Rs 10,000 and hospitals are doing it for free. “To encourage donors, we are giving Rs 5,000,” he said.

Despite Dharwad seeing a steady increase in Covid-19 cases and fatalities, the district administration seems relieved that the doubling rate has increased.

HUBBALLI: Despite Dharwad seeing a steady increase in Covid-19 cases and fatalities, the district administration seems relieved that the doubling rate has increased.

But a lack of proper strategy in containing the virus and laxity among the authorities concerned is clearly visible as cases are sprouting across rural and urban areas.

The district took 24 days for cases to double from 5,773 on August 8 to 11,512 on September 1. Earlier, cases doubled once in 15 days and the worst being nine days.

Officials now surmise that the district is flattening the curve and Covid cases would taper in the coming weeks.

But there is panic among people as the district is seeing 200-300 cases every day over the last few days. People complained that though the authorities claim that they are taking steps to break the chain of infection, little impact is seen on the ground.

According to data from the district administration, July and August were the worst hit with 7,227 and 3,742 cases, respectively.

The two months contributed 10,969 of the total 11,512 cases so far.

Experts said that this surge in positive cases is because of laxity on the part of authorities.

During the initial days of the pandemic, they followed the basic principles of battle against coronavirus – test, trace and isolate. But with a sudden surge, they lost their way, resulting in primary and secondary contacts not being traced and isolated.

A senior official in the district administration claimed that two staffers, either from the Health, Education or Women and Child Welfare departments, are deployed in every part of every ward across the district, to trace and isolate contacts.

Even in testing, Dharwad is among the top districts, he added.