Ahead of the Assembly elections, the Karnataka Congress made allegations that kickbacks for bagging civic contracts under the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) regime had touched 40%. This became a major poll plank. The Congress launched a ‘PayCM’ campaign and won the election.
Three months into the new government’s tenure, the Opposition BJP and Janata Dal (Secular) are hurling “commission” allegations against some Congress leaders. They have particularly trained their guns on Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, who also holds charge of Bengaluru Development, alleging that he has been demanding a “10-15% cut” to clear pending bills in the city’s civic body. These allegations have gained currency since Mr. Shivakumar spent time in jail not too long ago over money laundering charges.
Mr. Shivakumar has denied the charge. He has argued that he is being targeted for instituting an inquiry into all the works undertaken by the previous regime in Bengaluru. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and he have said that only bills of works cleared by the internal probe will be paid. Meanwhile, the State government has instituted a probe by a retired High Court judge into allegations of the “40% commission” under the BJP regime.
While the Opposition has been hurling corruption charges at the government, contractors themselves seem to be more keen on getting bills cleared. “Presently, our grouse is not corruption, but non-clearance of pending bills,” D. Kempanna, President, Karnataka State Contractors’ Association, who had written to the Prime Minister complaining about “40% commission” under the previous regime, told The Hindu. While some contractors even sought the Governor’s intervention to get pending bills in the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike to the tune of over ₹6,000 crore cleared, no association has till date alleged demands for “kickback”. One contractor who made the allegation later withdrew it. But with bills not being cleared and contractors miffed, several ongoing works have come to a standstill in Bengaluru.
The impasse is indicative of a larger malaise in the system. In the contractor’s opposition to the internal probe into the quality of works for which bills have been pending is a tacit acceptance of low-quality works. They allege that in the political fight between the Congress and the BJP over corruption, they are being targeted. They contend that quality was bound to suffer when they had to pay huge kickbacks and they cannot now be “punished” for it.
However, Congress sources have said that they are serious about “exposing corruption” under the BJP regime before the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, and investigating the quality of works undertaken during the previous tenure is the only way of doing it.
The State is estimated to have pending bills of over ₹25,000 crore. Given that some ₹35,000 crore has been allocated in the Budget for five ‘guarantee’ welfare schemes of the government, there seems to be a fund crunch for other works. Contractors allege that the probe is only a tactic to delay payments.
Mr. Shivakumar has repeatedly stated that the government has no money for new works and for clearing pending bills. “There is only ₹600 crore in the Water Resources Department. How can I clear pending bills of over ₹10,000 crore in my department?” he said recently. Mr. Shivakumar also holds charge of the Water Resources Department. Another pointer to the fund crunch is a letter to the Chief Minister written by several senior Congress MLAs, who missed berths in the Cabinet, expressing their unhappiness over the lack of funds to take up developmental works in their constituencies.
Mr. Siddaramaiah has blamed the BJP for what he calls a “financial mess”. He alleged in July that the previous government approved works beyond budgetary provisions. He has also said that the Centre shows “stepmotherly treatment” in devolution of funds to Karnataka. Hitting back, the BJP has said that pending works are a feature of all government transitions and even the previous Siddaramaiah-led regime had left huge pending works for the incoming government.
The bottom line is that Karnataka is under fiscal stress. The government seems to be suggesting that mopping up revenues and increasing tax efficiency to fix the so-called “mess” will take up most parts of this fiscal year and that new works will have to wait for the next fiscal.
