BENGALURU: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his cabinet on Friday took a crucial decision on the process of rolling out the five guarantees that Congress promised during the poll campaign.
After a marathon four-hour cabinet meeting, Siddaramaiah asserted that all five guarantees will be implemented within this financial year.
The guarantees promised are: ‘Griha Jyothi’ (Up to 200 units of electricity free for every household); ‘Griha Laxmi’ (Rs 2,000 per month for every woman head of households across the state); ‘Anna Bhagya’ (10 kg of foodgrains per person per household belonging to BPL category); ‘Shakthi’ (Free travel in government-owned non-luxury buses for women within Karnataka); and ‘Yuva Nidhi’ (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 they get jobs, whichever comes first).
The CM said ‘Shakthi’ will come into force on June 11, while ‘Griha Jyothi’ and ‘Anna Bhagya’ on July 1. ‘Griha Lakshmi’ will be launched on August 15 and applications for beneficiaries will open from June 15 to July 15. ‘Yuva Nidhi’ will be rolled out for graduates and diploma-holders who remain unemployed even six months after completing their courses.
The scheme will be applicable to students completing graduation and diploma courses from the academic year 2022-23. “The beneficiary should be a graduate of this academic year and should not have a job up to 180 days,” he said, adding that ‘Yuva Nidhi’ will be applicable for transgenders too.
All women can travel free in non-luxury buses, says CM
The government is likely to announce details regarding submission of applications for guarantees in the coming days. The CM, however, refrained from revealing the total expenses on the implementation of five guarantees.
Siddaramaiah said, “Under the ‘Shakthi’ scheme, all women can travel anywhere within Karnataka in non-luxury buses. This is also applicable for girl students.” He said 50% of seats will be reserved for men in the bus. If seats reserved for women remain vacant, they will be given to men on payment of fares.
Asked whether the scheme is applicable to all women, including government employees, he said in a lighter vein: “It covers all women, including my wife… and the Chief Secretary (Vandita Sharma)!”
On ‘Anna Bhagya’, Siddaramaiah said it will be extended to all BPL and ‘Antyodaya’ card-holders. “The BJP government reduced the quantity of rice to 5 kg, which we are increasing. This cannot be implemented from this month as we have already dispatched the stocks,” he said.