Guarantees must aim at creating jobs
Congress’ five guarantees during the campaign for the May 10 assembly polls in Karnataka have played a large part in the party coming to power in the state. The guarantees have been a hit as instruments of victory. Congress in other poll-bound states now plans to adopt the same strategy, hoping to come to power there.
The guarantees together can potentially cover a majority of the 2.14 crore households in Karnataka. ‘Uchit Prayana’ (or “Shakti”) allows free travel for all women in state-owned non-AC buses; ‘Griha Jyothi’ allows up to 200 units of electricity free for every household; ‘Griha Laxmi’ grants Rs 2,000 per month for every woman head of households; ‘Anna Bhagya’ provides 10 kg of food grain per person per household belonging to the Below Poverty Line (BPL) category; and ‘Yuva Nidhi’ grants Rs 3,000 per month for unemployed graduates and Rs 1,500 per month for unemployed diploma holders for up to two years or until getting employed, whichever comes first. Of the five, three guarantees are ‘doles’.
However, the state government needs to complement the guarantees with the financial sustenance of the beneficiaries by creating employment opportunities, including self-employment. For instance, the women beneficiaries of the ‘Griha Laxmi’ scheme, especially in rural areas, can be encouraged to start small businesses or self-help groups that can be further proliferated. Various technologies are emerging at scientific centres like the Indian Institute of Science’s Centre for Sustainable Technologies. One example is the vegetable/fruit dryer developed by it. Women can be trained to operate the dryers, which render the produce dry. The powdered-and-packed produce can have a shelf life of up to a year without affecting its nutrients. The double benefits: Over-the-counter sale of the packed, dried produce generates steady incomes for women, and the dried-packed-and-stored stock remains insulated from price fluctuations in times of glut.
Corporates and academia can be roped in to train unemployed youth, and the talented ones can be absorbed or encouraged to start businesses independently. The guarantees should be ideally used to aim at long-term financial sustainability, not just vote winnability.