Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah announced Friday that the cabinet decided to fulfil all five guarantees within the current fiscal year. He presided over the meeting.
In the just completed election in Karnataka, the Congress party won 135 out of 224 seats, securing a resounding victory. The Congress is now required to uphold its pledges in accordance with its promises and the faith the people have placed in it.
The party had outlined five guarantees, including giving 200 units of free electricity to all households (Gruha Jyoti), giving Rs 2,000 per month to the female head of each family (Gruha Lakshmi), giving 10 kg of free rice to every member of a household living below the poverty line (Anna Bhagya), giving Rs 3,000 per month to unemployed graduate youth and Rs 1,500 per month to unemployed diploma holders (aged 18 to 25) for two years (Yuva Nidhi), and facilitating free travel for women in public transport buses (Shakti).
The Congress government has calculated that it will cost about Rs 50,000 crore per year to conduct these programmes. K H Muniyappa, the minister of food and civil supplies, expressed the party’s commitment to upholding these assurances, promising that the distribution of 10 kg of rice will be carried out without delay and that more information will be supplied following the Cabinet’s decision.
Rahul Gandhi, a Congressman and former party leader, promised during the election that the programmes would be put into action the day the new administration assumed office.
After taking office on May 20, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said that the government had agreed in principle to put the guarantees into effect but asked for more time till the next cabinet meeting.
‘We have given approval in principle. We will get details, discuss, financial implications will be looked into and then we will do it for sure. Whatever the financial implications may be, we will fulfil these five guarantee schemes,’ Siddaramaiah told reporters after the first Cabinet meeting.
He responded, ‘Most likely it will be implemented after the next cabinet meeting,’ and adding, ‘Already cabinet decision has been taken.’ when asked when it will be put into effect. We must determine some facts, such as its financial implications.
The Chief Minister emphasised, ‘The promises have been agreed upon,’ when questioned as to why these factors were not taken into consideration in making the promises. We’re not going back.
Spending Rs 50,000 crore on these guarantees, according to Siddaramaiah, won’t put a strain on the state, whose budget is roughly Rs 3 lakh crore yearly.
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