MYSURU: Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Thursday extended an invitation to legislators of both the Ruling and Opposition parties to take part in the launch of the Gruha Lakshmi scheme in Mysuru on August 30. Shivakumar was speaking after inspecting the preparations at the Maharaja’s College grounds here for the scheme’s launch.
The DyCM said 1.1 crore women heads of families have registered for the program across the state that promises Rs 2,000 monthly assistance to the woman head of every household.
He said that AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will launch the programme in Mysuru that will be attended by over 1 lakh beneficiaries from Mysuru, Chamarajanagar, Mandya, Hassan and Kodagu districts who will arrive in 2,000 buses.
When asked about the need to spend crores of rupees for the launch of the programme when the state is reeling under drought-like conditions, he said that the programme that will be launched in Mysuru will be simultaneously launched in other taluks under the supervision of nodal officers.
On the release of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu, Shivakumar said that the government is committed to protecting Karnataka’s interest and has filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court.
‘No political reasons’
On the shifting of the Gruha Lakshmi launch venue from Belagavi to Mysuru, Shivakumar said there was no politics behind the move. The government plans to hold the launch of another programme in Belagavi, he added.
The Deputy Chief Minister said the guarantee schemes announced by the Congress government in Karnataka are becoming popular across the country.
He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who criticised the Congress over the guarantees, is now launching similar schemes in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh.
Shivakumar said that the government had also thought of launching the Gruha Lakshmi scheme from Bengaluru, but decided against it as a large-scale event could result in traffic jams in the state capital.