Indira canteen gets boost in K'taka budget

Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], July 5 (ANI): The Karnataka Government-led by Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy on Thursday proposed to expand Indira Canteens across the state.
"Considering the popularity of Indira Canteens in Bengaluru, action has been taken to open 247 Indira Canteens in all taluks and district headquarters of the state at an expenditure of Rs 211 crores," Kumaraswamy said.
The Karnataka government has also reduced the quantity of rice distributed in Anna Bhagya scheme from 7 kg to 5kg.
The state government has also announced a hike in petrol prices by Rs 1.14 and Rs 1.12 in diesel.
The Chief Minister proposed to increase the rate of tax on petrol from the present 30% to 32% and diesel from 19% to 21%.
The state government also announced a partial loan waiver of Rupees 34,000 cr which will benefit farmers whose loans are less than Rs 2 Lakh.
The Kumaraswamy-led JD(S) had resolved to waive farm loans borrowed both from cooperative and nationalised banks within 24 hours of formation of a full-fledged government of their party. The state decided against waiving off higher value crop loan.
Kumaraswamy on Thursday presented the first budget of his Janata Dal (Secular)-Congress coalition government in the Vidhana Soudha.
On July 1, the Congress-JD(S) coordination committee was constituted to oversee smooth functioning of the government to approve the Common Minimum Programme, which includes waiver of farm loans, creation of one crore jobs and allocation of Rs. 1.25 lakh crore for irrigation over the next five years. (ANI)