Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday announced that all the five poll guarantees of the Congress government will be fulfilled this financial year.
Speaking at a press conference after the second Karnataka Cabinet meeting, Siddaramaiah said that there will be no discrimination on caste or religious lines.
“We held a cabinet meeting today. We discussed all five promises thoroughly. We have decided that all five guarantees will be implemented in the present financial year,” Siddaramaiah said, as quoted by ANI.
“At the time of the election and before that, we announced five guarantees. Our (Karnataka) president DK Shivakumar and I signed the guarantee cards and promised that we will implement all promises and make sure they reach people. We also distributed guarantee cards,” he added.
Under ”Anna Bhagya”, 10 kg food grains will be given free to all in BPL households, Antyodaya card holders from July 1, he said, adding, Rs 2,000 monthly aid for woman head of family under the ‘Gruha Lakshmi’ initiative will be launched on August 15, the CM said.
The five guarantees promised are: 200 units of free power to all households (Gruha Jyoti), Rs 2,000 monthly assistance to the woman head of every family (Gruha Lakshmi), 10 kg of rice free to every member of a BPL household (Anna Bhagya), Rs 3,000 every month for unemployed graduate youth and Rs 1,500 for unemployed diploma holders (both in the age group of 18-25) for two years (Yuva Nidhi), and free travel for women in public transport buses (Shakti).
The Congress government has estimated that the implementation of these schemes may cost about Rs 50,000 crore every year.
The Congress party had promised that it will implement the schemes once it came to power. The Karnataka election was held in a single phase for the 224 Assembly seats on May 10, and the results came out on May 13, giving a clear mandate to the Congress which won 135 seats, way ahead of the magic figure of 113 seats.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had also said in his election speeches that the government will implement the schemes on the day the government takes over. However, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah after assuming power on May 20, and following the first Cabinet meeting, said the government has “approved in principle” to implement the guarantees and sought time till the next cabinet meeting.
Siddaramaiah had told reporters after the first Cabinet meeting that the promises will be implemented after the next cabinet meeting. “Already cabinet decision has been taken. We need to work out details such as its financial implications,” he had said.
When asked why these aspects were not looked at before making the promises, the Chief Minister underlined, “The promises have been agreed upon. We will not go back.”
Siddaramaiah said spending Rs 50,000 crore on these guarantees will not be a burden for the state, whose budget is about Rs Rs 3 lakh crore annually.