BENGALURU: Promising to waive bank loans to farmers within 24 hours of coming to power in Karnataka, the Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) on Monday released its manifesto that promised a plethora of sops/freebies for women, senior citizens, students, artisans and the poor.In an interesting proposal, to make ‘babudom’ more responsive and accountable, the JD (S) said it will conduct examination for all officers, including IAS, IPS and KAS, every year to evaluate their performance.
Speaking after releasing the manifesto, JD (S) state president H D Kumaraswamy said farm loans taken from cooperative societies and nationalised banks will be waived without any conditions. The total loan amount would be around `53,000 crores, he said. The party has also promised to waive loans availed by weavers and artisans, and trying to endear itself with senior citizens by promising a monthly honorarium of `6,000. “Unlike the BJP and Congress manifestos, promises made in our manifesto are not vague. It is a vision document,” he said.
Laying emphasis on agriculture, the party manifesto promises allocation of `1,50,000 crore for completing ongoing projects. Encouraging women to participate in the democratic process, the manifesto promises to give `2,000 to every woman who votes in the assembly elections.