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Cong's 5 guarantee schemes a ‘burden’ on state exchequer in Karnataka, but will continue: DK Shivakumar
Deputy CM DK Shivakumar emphasized the importance of financial and mental support for families, while addressing misuse of benefits.
Deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar on Thursday said that the ruling Congress’ five “guarantee” welfare schemes are a “burden” on the state exchequer but they will be continued.
“There is no need to revise the guarantees,” he told reporters in Bengaluru. Shivakumar on Wednesday said that the state government’s five guarantees were aimed at strengthening families financially and mentally. He asserted that welfare measures would continue despite the burden on the exchequer. However, he said that many drew benefits in the name of “dead people”, which has to be stopped.
The five guarantee schemes are ‘Gruha Jyothi,’ offering 200 units electricity free to every household, ‘Gruha Lakshmi’ scheme that provides ₹2,000 to every woman head of a family and ‘Anna Bhagya’ offering 10 kg rice to every member of the BPL family a month. While the ‘Yuva Nidhi’ scheme promises ₹3,000 dole to unemployed graduates and ₹1,500 to unemployed diploma holders for two years (in the 18-25 age-group) and the ‘Shakti’ scheme permits free travel for Karnataka women to travel within the state in government non-luxury buses.
Speaking at an event here earlier, Shivakumar said the guarantees were designed to ensure that money remains in the hands of citizens and that they do not lose confidence during times of distress.
He acknowledged that the schemes may place a financial burden on the government but maintained that public welfare would not be compromised. “It may be a burden on the government. But even if it is a burden, your financial strength should not weaken mentally,” he said.
Meanwhile, transport and muzrai minister Ramalinga Reddy said the department had requested 3,000 new buses in the upcoming state budget to strengthen the fleet. This comes amid a sharp rise in bus ridership following the launch of the Shakti scheme allowing free travel for women. “We are yet to receive confirmation on how many buses we will get,” he told reporters on Thursday.
Reddy dismissed suggestions that the free travel programme was responsible for the losses. “The Shakti Yojana is not the reason for the losses of transport companies. The transport company was in losses even during the BJP government,” he said.
He added that public transport was being run as a service rather than a profit-driven enterprise. “The Shakti project has nothing to do with the losses of the transport company. The government is trying to compensate for the losses,” he said.
“We are making 35% profit. We will run the buses even if we make a loss. There is no profit motive here. Private companies will not run buses if they are not making a profit,” he added.
Separately, the government is moving ahead with a smart card system for bus passengers, which recently received cabinet approval. Tenders will be issued shortly, and the cards will return to the cabinet for final clearance after the bidding process. “Once the tenders are finalised, it will again go to the Cabinet. Initially, we expect about three crore citizens to avail of the smart card,” Reddy said.
(With PTI inputs)
