The Karnataka Congress government recently enlisted the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) to devise strategies to enhance revenue and reduce revenue collection leakages. This move comes as the government faces substantial costs from its five guarantee schemes, which are projected to cost ₹52,000 crore in the current fiscal year, benefiting around 5.10 crore residents. BCG’s recommendations include identifying new revenue streams in sectors like mining and asset monetization. One notable suggestion involves monetizing approximately 25,000 acres of land near Bengaluru by developing planned satellite towns in areas such as Bidadi, Anekal, Hoskote, Devanahalli, and Doddaballapur. This development is expected to increase land value, aiding fund generation.
The five guarantee schemes include Gruha Lakshmi (₹2,000 for every woman head of a family), Gruha Jyoti (200 units of free electricity per household), Shakthi (free state bus travel for women), Anna Bhagya (10 kg rice per month for BPL families), and Yuva Nidhi (financial support for unemployed graduates and diploma holders).
To support these initiatives, the state recently increased the cess on petrol and diesel, raising Karnataka Sales Tax (KST) on petrol to 29.84% and on diesel to 18.4%, leading to a price increase of around ₹3 per liter. The government is also aiming to boost compliance with GST and property tax to further augment revenue.
Fissures In Congress Over BCG Appointment
Congress member and Chairman of the Professionals’ Congress & Data Analytics, Praveen Chakravarthy took to his X handle to diss this move. He wrote, “If one wins elections by outsourcing core political functions to external fee charging transactional consultants, then one also governs by outsourcing core policy functions to similar consultants!”
If one wins elections by outsourcing core political functions to external fee charging transactional consultants, then one also governs by outsourcing core policy functions to similar consultants!https://t.co/O7xgk3T1mZ
— Praveen Chakravarty (@pravchak) June 20, 2024
This post was met with criticism from Congress members like Mohan Kumaramangalam and All India Professionals’ Congress Karnataka.
Kumaramangalam criticised Chakravarthy and wrote, “A data thief turned data fudger/and self declared consultant who manufactured data to mislead the congress leadership in 2019 and has since been masquerading as a politician is calling out real politicians for using the services of capable consultants. Hilarious”
A data thief turned data fudger/and self declared consultant who manufactured data to mislead the congress leadership in 2019 and has since been masquerading as a politician is calling out real politicians for using the services of capable consultants. Hilarious https://t.co/E4sYU4HM0Q
— Mohan மோகன் (@MKumaramangalam) June 20, 2024
The All India Professionals’ Congress Karnataka handle surprisingly took a stand against its own Chairman. They wrote, “The professionals’ community aligned with the Congress party in Karnataka, would like to make it clear that we don’t agree with the opinions expressed by @pravchak the chairman of @ProfCong against our govt in Karnataka.”
The professionals' community aligned with the Congress party in Karnataka, would like to make it clear that we don't agree with the opinions expressed by @pravchak the chairman of @ProfCong against our govt in Karnataka. (1/2)@siddaramaiah @DKShivakumar @kharge @rssurjewala https://t.co/cUwSpUb1iN
— AIPC Karnataka (@ProfCongKAR) June 20, 2024
It is noteworthy that the Karnataka state government has engaged BCG for six months at a fee of approximately ₹9.5 crore, as reported in Money Control. While three private firms expressed interest, only BCG submitted a final tender.
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