Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has said that the much-anticipated Gruha Lakshmi guarantee that entails a monthly assistance of ₹2,000 to women head of the family will be launched on August 16. He said that since the scheme has to go through application process, it required time to be operational.
He also said that Yuva Nidhi, another guarantee that promises unemployment benefits to graduates and diploma holders passing out from the academic year 2022-2023 , will be launched around November/December. “It is 100% guarantee that we will implement our guarantees,” he said.
He was speaking during the launch of Anna Bhagya scheme here on Monday.
Why transfer of cash
Defending the transfer of cash in lieu of free 5 kg rice under Anna Bhagya scheme, he said the State government, which wanted to implement the scheme on time, was hard pressed to find rice for Anna Bhagya after the Centre denied supply.
“We had committed to implement the guarantees and launch date (July 1) had been set. Then the BJP government at the Centre despite having a huge stock denied rice, later Karnataka was unable to procure rice from other States, and the Central agencies quoted higher price. The required quantity of rice was not available in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Punjab,” the Chief Minister said. “Because we had given the word on implementing Anna Bhagya in July, we are launching it. Money would be transferred till we get enough rice supply. We have already started the tendering process,“ he said.
Third guarantee
Anna Bhagya is the third of the five guarantees that the Congress government is implementing after Shakti (free bus travel to women) and Gruha Jyothi (200 units of free power). Costing over ₹ 10,000 crore annually, Anna Bhagya will benefit 4.42 crore people in 1.28 crore BPL and Antyodaya cards. The cash transfer involves ₹170 per person every month in lieu of 5 kg free rice. The government has arrived at ₹34, the price of rice per kg at which the Food Corporation of India sells.
On Monday, beneficiaries in Mysuru and Kolar received cash after launch, and over the week DBT will be done to beneficiaries in four districts. A note from Chief Minister’s Office said that on the same day 10 years ago, the first Anna Bhagya scheme was launched by the then Siddaramaiah government.
‘Political vengeance’
Attacking the BJP government at the Centre, he asked, “Is it not dirty politics played by Government of India? Should we not call it a political vengeance or anti-poor?” Eventually, he said while the Centre prevented States from participating in auction, the e-auction did not find any takers.
