The Congress government has hit the ground running, thanks to its ‘5G’ card that propelled it to power in Karnataka. While factors like anti-incumbency, shift in Vokkaliga and Lingayat votes, and consolidation of OBC, dalit and Muslim votes worked in its favour, it was the promise of five guarantee (freebies) schemes that helped the Congress sweep the polls.
The five guarantees are: 200 units of free power to every household every month under Gruha Jyothi Yojana; 10 kilos of free rice to every member of every family below poverty line under Anna Bhagya Yojana; free bus travel for women under Shakti Yojana; financial assistance of ₹2,000 per month to housewives under Gruha Laxmi Yojana; and ₹3,000 to graduates and ₹1,500 to diploma holders as monthly unemployment benefit under Yuva Nidhi Yojana.
The freebies were announced with much fanfare during the election campaign. And, Siddaramaiah and D.K. Shivakumar had handed out signed copies of the guarantee card to every household, saying the schemes would be implemented soon after the first cabinet meeting. But the entire exercise is proving to be a daunting task. Two cabinet meetings down, the government is struggling to identify genuine beneficiaries. Moreover, the schemes would cost the state exchequer about ₹56,000 crore every year.
During the polls, the door-to-door distribution of ‘5G’ cards had unnerved the BJP, prompting Prime Minister Narendra Modi to say that the promise of freebies would drown the state in debt. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah declared that the first cabinet meeting had given “in-principle approval” to the five guarantee schemes. In response to Modi’s jibe, he said that the country’s debt burden had increased by ₹103 lakh crore under the Modi government.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة June 11, 2023 من THE WEEK India.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة June 11, 2023 من THE WEEK India.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
William Dalrymple goes further back
Indian readers have long known William Dalrymple as the chronicler nonpareil of India in the early years of the British raj. His latest book, The Golden Road, is a striking departure, since it takes him to a period from about the third century BC to the 12th-13th centuries CE.
The bleat from the street
What with all the apps delivering straight to one’s doorstep, the supermarkets, the food halls and even the occasional (super-expensive) pop-up thela (cart) offering the woke from field-to-fork option, the good old veggie-market/mandi has fallen off my regular beat.
Courage and conviction
Justice A.M. Ahmadi's biography by his granddaughter brings out behind-the-scenes tension in the Supreme Court as it dealt with the Babri Masjid demolition case
EPIC ENTERPRISE
Gowri Ramnarayan's translation of Ponniyin Selvan brings a fresh perspective to her grandfather's magnum opus
Upgrade your jeans
If you don’t live in the top four-five northern states of India, winter means little else than a pair of jeans. I live in Mumbai, where only mad people wear jeans throughout the year. High temperatures and extreme levels of humidity ensure we go to work in mulmul salwars, cotton pants, or, if you are lucky like me, wear shorts every day.
Garden by the sea
When Kozhikode beach became a fertile ground for ideas with Manorama Hortus
RECRUITERS SPEAK
Industry requirements and selection criteria of management graduates
MORAL COMPASS
The need to infuse ethics into India's MBA landscape
B-SCHOOLS SHOULD UNDERSTAND THAT INDIAN ECONOMY IS GOING TO WITNESS A TREMENDOUS GROWTH
INTERVIEW - Prof DEBASHIS CHATTERJEE, director, Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode
COURSE CORRECTION
India's best b-schools are navigating tumultuous times. Hurdles include lower salaries offered to their graduates and students misusing AI
