H D Kumaraswamy to present Rs 2.4 lakh crore taken as read' budget?

Bengaluru: Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy, who is likely to present a budget with a Rs 2.4 lakh crore  outlay for the year 2019-20 on Friday , may not read it in its entirety with the BJP preparing to disrupt the proceedings, but confine himself to the first and the last paragraphs, leaving the rest to be taken as read, according to party sources.

The ongoing protest by the BJP, which forced the Governor too to cut short his address similarly to the joint session of the legislature, is    likely to result in early winding up of the budget session, which may be restricted to passing of finance bills, they reveal.

The budget is likely to allocate all the funds required for the farm loan waiver although the government had said in the past that it would provide the money in stages, spread over the next five years. But with the  BJP  alleging that the state did not have money for the scheme, the Chief Minister has decided to waive the loans in full immediately, say sources.

The government  reportedly plans to create a separate fund for purchase  of vegetables and horticulture produce directly from the farmers and market them. At present, the farmers get a return of around Rs 28000 crore for vegetables and horticultural produce, which is sold for Rs 56,000 crore in the market as the rest of the money goes to the middlemen.

The government is also said to be considering increasing the market intervention revolving fund from Rs 500 crore to Rs 1000 crore, and up  allocations for women self -help groups. An improved farm insurance scheme could be announced as well, according to sources.