Bengaluru: The 2025-26 budget presented by Finance Minister Siddaramaiah is a hopeful budget that is conducive to the all-round development of the state, said Minister for Forest, Biology and Environment Eshwar Khandre.

Commenting on the budget, he said that Siddaramaiah’s budget, which has presented a record budget for the 16th time, is a Sweet 16 budget. He said that the Chief Minister has taken a bold step towards making Karnataka a 1 trillion economy state with his vast economic experience.

Eshwar Khandre also said that the decision to provide bananas and eggs to school children six days a week to overcome malnutrition will improve the health of poor children and pave the way for building a strong Karnataka. Rs 8000 crore has been allocated under the Chief Minister’s Infrastructure Development Programme for road, minor irrigation and infrastructure development, which will support the development of every assembly constituency, he said.

The measures taken to strengthen the economic condition of farmers through carbon credit and agroforestry also support environmental protection. This will encourage the cultivation of trees with carbon storage capacity and prevent global warming, said Environment Minister Eshwar Khandre.

Wildlife attack death compensation increased

`17 crore has been provided for the maintenance of the Elephant Task Force and the Leopard Rapid Task Force to prevent human-wildlife conflict, and Rs 60 crore has been set aside for the construction of railway barricades in the current financial year. The amount of ex-gratia compensation given to the families of those who died in wildlife attacks has been increased from the current Rs 15 lakh to Rs 20 lakh.

To prevent human-elephant conflict, Rs 20 crore has been allocated for the construction of an elephant sanctuary (soft release center) within a 20 sq km area of the Bhadra Tiger Reserve. The sanctuary will solve the elephant problem in Kodagu, Chikkamagaluru and Hassan districts. Overall, this is a popular, all-round budget, says Eshwar Khandre Emphasis on Kalyana Karnataka

In this year’s budget, Rs 5,000 crore has been allocated for the development of Kalyana Karnataka. An opportunity has been given to formulate a plan, which will prove our government’s commitment to doing as promised, said Forest, Ecology and Environment Minister Eshwar Khandre. Commenting on the budget, he said that the decision to fill the 5367 vacant teacher posts in Kalyana Karnataka will alleviate the shortage of teachers in schools, while the increase in additional incentive of Rs 450 for the togari crop is a ray of hope for the farmers of our region.

Under the Kalyana Karnataka Comprehensive Health Development Scheme, the decision to strengthen the health system and start a cancer detection unit at the Bidar Government Medical College Hospital at a total cost of Rs. 873 crore to provide quality health services and improve the health index of the Kalyana Karnataka region is welcome, said Eshwara Khandre.