Karnataka govt likely to implement only 3 of 5 election guarantees for now

BENGALURU: The Congress government is likely to immediately implement only three of the five poll guarantees — 200 units of free power, 10kg of rice per person in a Below Poverty Line (BPL) family and free travel for women in state-run buses. The other two promises, Rs 2,000 per month for woman head of the family and Rs 3,000 for unemployed graduates, may be fulfilled only post the budget session.

A meeting of chief minister Siddaramaiah and his cabinet colleagues held on Wednesday to discuss ways to roll out Congress’ five big poll promises, is said to have taken an informal decision to this effect. A final decision is expected on Friday when the cabinet meeting will be held.
It was reportedly decided to postpone rollout of the Gruha Lakshmi and Yuva Nidhi schemes as both require huge funds, and as of now there is no budgetary allocation. “In all likelihood, the Gruha Lakshmi scheme, which requires around Rs 2,000 crore per month, will be rolled out on Varamahalakshmi day or during Gauri Ganesha festival. As far as Yuva Nidhi is concerned, it’s implementation will also take time since the government has decided to extend the benefit to students graduating from colleges this academic year and the results of some courses are awaited,” said a senior official who attended the meeting.

By pushing the Gruha Lakshmi scheme, the government will also have sufficient time to decide/define who is the head of the family. “As of now, there is no clarity on that,” the official added.
Siddaramaiah said the government has decided to implement all five schemes. “We have discussed in detail all five guarantees and decided to implement them. The details will be finalised in the cabinet meeting (on Friday) and made known to people,” the CM said. In the meeting, officials gave detailed presentations to ministers on ways to implement each of the five guarantees and also apprised them about the financial implications. It is being said the officials provided two to three options on rolling out each of the schemes and left it to the cabinet to zero in on one.

Deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar said the government is committed to rolling out all five schemes. “We will have a comprehensive discussion in the cabinet meeting on Friday and will come out with the details. Until then, I request people not to pay heed to speculations,” he said. When asked if conditions will apply to the guarantees, Shivakumar said: “It is not about conditions. What is important is the systematic implementation of the guarantees, and our priority lies there. We don’t heed the opposition’s pressure,” he added.