SIDDA KEEPS HIS WORD

THE NEW CONGRESS GOVERNMENT HAS DELIVERED THE FIRST OF ITS ‘FIVE POLL GUARANTEES’. PROVISIONING FOR THE HUGE OUTGOS AND NAVIGATING THE FISCAL TIGHTROPE COMES NEXT

- Ajay Sukumaran

EARLIER THIS WEEK, KARNATAKA chief minister Siddaramaiah hopped on to a bus at Vidhana Soudha, the imposing secretariat building in Bengaluru, to flag off a scheme that allows women to travel for free on state transport buses across the state. This was the first of the Congress’s five pre-poll guarantees to roll out and the CM noted with pride that his government had made good on its promise within 22 days of taking charge.

For the past three weeks, the buzz in Karnataka has been about how the Siddaramaiah government will go about these big-ticket programmes, given their scale. For instance, the free bus travel scheme, Shakti, is estimated to benefit 4.2 million women daily. But it will also cost the government about Rs 4,052 crore annually. “Whatever the difficulties, we will make sure these five guarantees are fulfilled. There’s no question of going back on our word,” Siddaramaiah said at the launch.

In July, the government will roll out its next poll guarantee, the Anna Bhagya scheme, which will double the free foodgrains distribution to BPL families to 10 kg per month. Following this, on August 1, it will implement Gruha Jyothi, a free power scheme that will cover 21.4 million domestic connections consuming less than 200 units a month—at a cost of Rs 13,000 crore a year. In mid-August, the Gruha Lakshmi scheme offering a monthly allowance of Rs 2,000 to every woman-run household will be launched. The fifth scheme, Yuvanidhi—under which the 2023 batch graduates who were unable to find a job even after six months will be eligible for a Rs 3,000 monthly allowance (Rs 1,500 for diploma holders)—will be the last to be implemented.