Karnataka: Rs 50,000 crore needed for implementation of Congress guarantee schemes

Officials from the concerned departments have informed Chief Minister Siddaramaiah that Rs 50,000 crore per annum will be needed for implementation of the five guarantee schemes.

Bengaluru (Karnataka): Top officials informed Chief Minister Siddaramaiah that Rs 50,000 crore per annum was required for implementation of the five promises made by the Congress in the state. The officials from finance, transport, food and civil supplies, energy and other departments appraised the CM about the cost and expenditure in a meeting. Siddaramaiah in turn asked them to prepare a report.

The Chief Minister will now consult with all the ministers on Wednesday regarding its implementation. An official decision in this regard will be taken on Thursday during a Cabinet meeting.

The Congress five pre-poll guarantees include Griha Lakshmi Yojana, which gives Rs 2,000 per month to woman of each family, Griha Jyoti Yojana which gives free electricity up to 200 units of household consumption per month, Yuva Nidi Yojana which gives Rs 3,000 to graduates and Rs 1,500 to diploma graduates, Shakti Yojana for free government bus travel for women and Annabhagya Yojana. The Cabinet in its first meeting had in principle approved Annabhagya Yojana.

According to the officials, Rs 12,038 crore are needed for Griha Jyoti scheme. The authorities informed the CM that approximately 2.14 crore families will benefit from this scheme. The annual consumption for this will be approximately 13,575 million units. Officials have informed that the total money required for the project including fixed fees, taxes will be Rs 12,038 crore per annum.

The officials of the concerned departments have allocated an annual estimate of Rs 32,000 crore for the Griha Lakshmi Yojana. Officials have informed that if the schemes is applied to everyone, then a huge amount of money will be required. Therefore, the implementation of Griha Lakshmi Yojana for the housewives of BPL families is being discussed.

The officials have informed that Rs 860-900 crores annually are needed for the implementation of Yuva Nidhi Yojana. The scheme will be applicable only for students who passed out in 2023 and according to the officials around 4.50 lakh graduates pass out from colleges every year, around 48,000 diploma students pass out.

Officials of the road transport department have informed that Rs 3,600 crore per annum will be required for implementation of free bus travel for women. This scheme will be applicable only for general transport buses. According to sources the annual estimate for Annabhagya scheme is around Rs 4,500-5,000 crore and that scheme will be applicable only for BPL card holders. As per the officials, there are about 1.27 crore BPL card holders in the state.

Officials from the finance department said there was no discussion about how to mobilize resources and set up funds for these projects.