Shivamogga Lok Sabha member B.Y. Raghavendra has said the Yuva Nidhi scheme launched by the State government will help only a few of the unemployed.
The Congress party came to power assuring financial assistance to all unemployed, but finally it announced the scheme only for those who graduated in 2023, he said in a press conference in Shivamogga on Saturday.
Mr. Raghavendra said so far, around 65,000 people have registered for the scheme. The number of youths registered for the scheme in Shivamogga was only around 3,000.
“The government is spending hardly ₹200 crore a year for Yuva Nidhi. This is not at all a big amount. Narendra Modi-led Central Government has launched the Vishwakarma Scheme, which involves funds to the tune of ₹13,000 crore. In Shivamogga alone, 45,000 have registered for the benefit,” he said.
The BJP leader said that he had doubts if the guarantee scheme would be continued after the Lok Sabha elections. “The State government launched Yuva Nidhi keeping an eye on the coming Lok Sabha elections. I don’t believe the government will continue these schemes after the elections,” he said.
On naming the Freedom Park, Mr. Raghavendra said he would agree with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s suggestion of Allama Prabhu’s name for the park. “Siddeshwara Swamy had opined the same in 2019 when he addressed the religious gathering. We also support it,” he said.
Siddaramaiah, at the launch of Yuva Nidhi stated that it would be proper to name the park after Allama Prabhu, the 12th-century mystic poet, a native of Balligavi in Shikaripur taluk.
Further, Mr. Raghavendra disputed Siddaramaiah’s claim that the central prison was shifted from the city to a new place during his previous tenure. The Lok Sabha member maintained that the place was named Freedom Park during Yediyurappa’s tenure as CM, after shifting the central prison to Sogane. “It seems the CM was misled by people around him on this issue,” he said.
