After holding a long meeting with officials of various departments, the Karnataka government will hold an important cabinet meeting on Friday regarding the implementation of the five electoral guarantees.
The ruling Congress party gave in-principle approval to the guarantees in the first cabinet discussion and promised to implement them all in the meeting. However, sources in the party said News18 That the government can immediately implement only three of the five election guarantees – 200 units of free electricity, 10 kg of rice per person in a Below Poverty Line (BPL) household and free travel for women in state-run buses.
The other two promises – Rs 2,000 per month for the female head of the household and Rs 3,000 for unemployed graduates – can be fulfilled only after the state budget session.
The scheme may give ammunition to the Bharatiya Janata Party which may protest against the “betrayal” and keep the residents of Karnataka waiting.
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Already some have started raising their voice against the government’s plan. Karnataka BJP President and Dakshina Kannada MP Nalin Kumar Kateel said that the Congress should implement the five guarantees made before the elections to the people without any delay.
He said that if the government fails to fulfill the promises unconditionally, the BJP will hit the streets.
Kateel said that the Congress government is now talking about some guidelines to implement those proposals which were not mentioned during the election campaign. He said that the ruling party is trying to cheat the public.
He claimed, “The Congress offered to fulfill the promises within 24 hours of taking office, but did not implement the guarantees even after 20 days.
5 guarantees of Congress in detail
Congress had said that if its government is formed in Karnataka, it will implement these schemes. The party entered Vidhana Soudha by securing an absolute majority of 135 out of 224 seats. Now it is the turn of the Congress to fulfill its promises after reposing the confidence of the public.
The five guarantees promised include 200 units of free electricity to all households (Griha Jyoti), Rs 2,000 monthly assistance to the female head of every household (Griha Lakshmi), 10 kg rice free to each BPL family member (Anna Bhagya). Rs 3,000 per month for unemployed graduate youth and Rs 1,500 for unemployed diploma holders (both in the 18-25 age group) for two years (Yuvanidhi), and free travel for women in public transport buses (Shakti).
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The Congress government has estimated that the implementation of these schemes may cost around Rs 50,000 crore.
“We have announced five guarantees. We discussed them in detail yesterday. Tomorrow we will decide. We have assured that we will give 10 kg rice. There is no second thought about implementing it, but I will explain to you after the cabinet’s decision,” Food and Civil Supplies Minister KH Muniyappa told reporters on Thursday.
Elaborating further, he said, “We will implement the guarantees that we have promised in a phased manner.” With regard to the Anna Bhagya scheme, he said the state government would ask the Center and the Food Corporation of India to provide rice to Karnataka.
“If they (Centre and FCI) refuse, we will ourselves procure rice through tender or organizations and distribute it to the beneficiaries,” Muniyappa said.
During the elections, former Congress President Rahul Gandhi had said that these schemes would be implemented the day the government came to power. However, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, after assuming office on May 20, said that the government had agreed in principle to implement the guarantee and sought time till the next cabinet meeting.
“We have given in-principle approval. We will get the details, discuss, look at the financial implications and then we will finalize it. “Whatever the financial implications, we will complete these five guarantee schemes,” Siddaramaiah told reporters after the first cabinet meeting.
When asked when it would be implemented, he said, “Most likely it will be implemented after the next cabinet meeting,” and added, “The cabinet decision has already been taken. We need to know its financial implications like Details need to be worked out.”
When asked why these aspects were not looked into before making the promises, the Chief Minister underlined, “The promises have been agreed upon. We will not back down.” Siddaramaiah said spending Rs 50,000 crore on these guarantees would not be a burden on the state, which has an annual budget of around Rs 3 lakh crore.
guaranteed with conditions
According to some Congress leaders, there will be some conditions attached to these plans. Griha Lakshmi, which promises to give Rs 2,000 to the female head of the household, is for those who are below the poverty line. Even the Anna Bhagya scheme providing 10 kg food grains is meant for BPL families.
Even the Griha Jyoti Yojana, which provides 200 units of free electricity, is also meant for the economically weaker sections, he said. About the Shakti scheme, Congress leaders said it would not have any conditions but would specify in which buses women can travel free of cost.
An estimate prepared by the BMTC shows that its operating cost itself is more than Rs 12,000 crore while its revenue is just over Rs 9,000 crore.
(With inputs from PTI)