Date:18/03/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/03/18/stories/2007031801680400.htm

Karnataka - Bangalore

Religious bias surfaces in budget

B.S. Satish Kumar

Rs. 2 crore allocated for convention on protection of cows

Allocation under Aradhana scheme for temples doubled

BANGALORE: Deputy Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa's budget presented on Friday was not without a saffron tinge.

Several proposals indicate this. The proposal to develop the area around Bhadra Reservoir where Sri Sri Ravishankar of the Art of Living Foundation attained "enlightenment." This proposal, curiously, is tucked away under the head of Irrigation in the budget. Besides this, the budget has allocated Rs. 2 crore for organising the Vishwa Go Samrakshana Sammelana (world cow protection convention) at Ramachandrapura in Shimoga district in 2007-08.

Similarly, the allocation under Aradhana scheme for temples has been doubled from Rs. 5 lakh per Assembly constituency. None of the religious places proposed to be developed belong to the minority communities.

To "study the practices of the past" and to help the "refinement of administrative and judicial practices" the budget allocates Rs. 1 crore to set up a chair in Rajadharma and Nyayadarshana.

Kannada Chaluvali Vatal Paksha leader Vatal Nagaraj took exception to this. Speaking to The Hindu , he said: "Why has the birthplace of Saint Shishunala Sharief, which lacks infrastructure, not been taken up for development?

"What about the memorial of Tipu Sultan?"

It would have been relevant to take up the development of memorials of these two proud personalities of Karnataka at a time when the State was celebrating the Suvarna Karnataka year, he said.