Hans News Service Bengaluru

ChiefMinister D.K. Shivakumar has urged Union Home Minister Amit Shah to ensure the early release of the Rs 5,300 crore grant announced by the Centre for the Upper Bhadra Project.

Raising the issue at the 31st Southern Zonal Council meeting in Mahabalipuram on Thursday, Shivakumar said the grant had been announced in the Union Budget during the previous BJP government in Karnataka and was also mentioned in Parliament. However, the funds have not yet been released, affecting the implementation of the project.

“During the tenure of the Bommai government, the Union Finance Minister had announced Rs 5,300 crore for the Upper Bhadra Project in the Union Budget. Though the amount was announced in Parliament, it has not been released so far. This is causing difficulties in implementing the project. The funds should be released at the earliest,” Shivakumar said.

The Chief Minister also raised concerns over the manner in which Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds are being utilised by private companies and public sector undertakings. He suggested that a policy should be framed to enable state governments to decide how CSR funds generated by companies operating in their states are utilised, particularly for local priorities such as education and healthcare.

“Companies do business in one state but invest their CSR funds elsewhere. Our priorities are education and healthcare. Therefore, the state government should have a role in deciding where and how CSR funds are utilised,” he said.

Responding to the suggestion, Amit Shah partially agreed and advised Shivakumar to discuss the issue with the heads of public sector undertakings. Shah notedthat IAS officers are heading several PSUs and said both he and Shivakumar could discuss the matter with them.

Shivakumar also raised concerns over the disposal of land allotted by state governments to PSUs. He objected to instances where land granted for public purposes is subsequently sold or auctioned after the beneficiary organisation shuts down or ceases operations. The Chief Minister argued that such land should be returned to the state government instead of being auctioned. “We provide land to PSUs. When they shut down or cease operations, the land is auctioned. Since the state government provided the land, it should be returned to the government,” Shivakumar said. He alleged that there have been several instances where beneficiaries have disposed of government-allotted land without obtaining the required permission from the state authorities. Such disposal of resources provided for nation-building purposes amounts to misuse of public assets, he said.

Shivakumar further said the state governments should have a role in deciding the future use or disposal of such land and indicated that Karnataka would take legal measures to prevent such transactions where necessary. Responding to the issue, Amit Shah.