In the assembly elections to be held on May 10, the echo of Congress’s ‘guarantees’ was heard among the voters. (file)
Bengaluru:
The implementation of the five ‘guarantees’ announced by the Congress could cost an estimated Rs 50,000 crore annually. Prominent party leaders who talked about the cost of welfare measures insisted that one could not call them “freebies” as they were tools of empowerment.
Political analysts said the ‘guarantees’ resonated with voters of the May 10 assembly elections, especially with women, and played a key role in the party’s landslide victory.
The Congress won 135 seats in the 224-member assembly and ousted the BJP from power, with the erstwhile ruling party winning only 66 constituencies, while the Janata Dal (Secular) managed to secure only 19 seats.
Some BJP leaders have alleged that the implementation of the ‘guarantees’ will push the state into financial bankruptcy, and have also claimed that the Congress will not fully honor its pre-poll promises.
During the election campaign, Rahul Gandhi and other Congress leaders had repeatedly said that after coming to power, the party’s government, in its first cabinet meeting on the first day of assuming power, would pass orders approving ‘guarantees’ to speed up their economic growth. to facilitate implementation.
The five schemes that the Congress had guaranteed to be implemented were ‘Griha Jyoti’ – giving 200 units of electricity free to every household; ‘Griha Lakshmi’ – to give Rs 2,000 to each female head of the household; ‘Anna Bhagya’ — distribution of 10 kg rice to each member of BPL families every month; ‘Yuva Nidhi’ – to sanction Rs 3,000 to unemployed graduates and Rs 1,500 to unemployed diploma holders for two years (in the 18-25 age group); and ‘Shakti’ – to enable free travel for women across Karnataka in state buses.
In an interview with PTI on Wednesday, Congress manifesto drafting committee vice-chairman Professor KE Radhakrishna said the implementation of the five guarantee schemes would cost no more than Rs 50,000 crore annually.
“I can say officially that all these guarantee schemes together will not exceed Rs 50,000 crore,” he said.
Mr. Radhakrishna, who has the distinction of preparing five manifestos for the Congress, said that even some of the Congress leaders are under the impression that these schemes cannot be implemented.
He said, “Some of our leaders have this perception, but we are very sure because I have worked on the financial impact. It is not more than Rs 50,000 crore. Even Rs 50,000 crore is not a donation. This empowerment Is.”
Explaining how these schemes would be implemented, the educationist said that the total budget of the Karnataka government is around Rs 3 lakh crore.
Mr Radhakrishna said that at least 60 per cent of the revenue of any good economy is spent on sustainable development, adding that it goes into paying salaries of government employees and implementing empowerment programmes.
“Revenue transfers capital, capital transfers revenue. So, out of the Rs 3 lakh crore budget, Rs 1.5 lakh crore will have to be spent. If that doesn’t happen, we will have Rs 1.5 lakh crore to spend.” Money will not. They are related to each other,” he explained.
He said that out of the five guarantees, ‘Anna Bhagya’ is an existing scheme, and the new promise is an extension.
The Congress leader said, “We were giving seven kilos of rice. The BJP reduced it to five kilos. Now we want to make it 10 kilos again. We are giving rice and bajra. This will boost its cultivation and production.” “
Regarding ‘Griha Jyoti’, Shri Radhakrishna said that Karnataka is a power surplus state and is selling power to other states.
According to him, the Congress has promised to build a huge solar park of 5000 MW capacity in its manifesto. It has also promised to set up a small solar cluster in each village.
“These clusters will generate employment for the people in the village and make the villages self-sufficient in terms of electricity. We are going to increase power generation, which will ultimately create employment opportunities,” explained Mr. Radhakrishna.
He clarified that the Rs 2,000 guarantee under ‘Griha Lakshmi’ is not extended to all women heads of households. The Congress leader said, “It is only for families below poverty line. We will not give to rich people. This scheme is only to empower poor people.”
He said about ‘Youth Fund’ that unemployment allowance is given in many countries around the world.
“Whether our degree education is job relevant is a big issue, but today graduates are in a helpless position,” said Mr. Radhakrishna.
He said that under the scheme, the government is planning to set up a big employment exchange.
“We are going to coordinate with ‘Bharat Jogo Udyog Kendra’ (Bharat Jodo Rozgar Kendra) where we will take private industries along,” he said.
Shri Radhakrishna said the government will also tie up with the Rajiv Gandhi Skill Development Corporation to train and skill the graduates and make them employable by industries.
Talking about ‘Shakti’ scheme of free bus travel for women, he said that already students are getting free passes from their homes to go to college.
“Not every woman travels in buses. Only those who are not rich travel in buses. This (free travel guarantee) will empower garment workers, domestic servants, ‘pourakarmis’ and women engaged in menial jobs,” she said. “
Radhakrishnan quipped, “There will be no condition. We will be very happy if every woman travels. It will reduce pollution.”
He said that these five schemes are only to empower the people and they are not free of cost.
Remembering the saying ‘if you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day’. If you teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime’, said the academician, “but we believe that in order to catch a fish, there must be some minimum strength in the fishing hand. That’s what Empowerment is what we do.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)