Largesse to temples continues

BANGALORE: The prevailing drought situation in two-thirds of taluks has not deterred the government to open up its coffers to temples and religious institutions.Even in its third instalment of supplementary estimates of Rs 6177.7 crore which was tabled in the Assembly on Monday, the state government has sanctioned an additional Rs 37.32 crore towards grant-in-aid for temple and religious institutions.This is in addition to the crores of rupees allocated in the 2011-12 budget.“Never in the history of state legislature, funds were given to temples and religious institutions in the supplementary estimates.It is ridiculous that the state government is giving money to temples when people are battling for drinking water,” Siddaramaiah said.In supplementary estimates, the government has sanctioned Rs 5 crore to meet salary expenditure of aided colleges due to implementation of the UGC scales.