CONGRESS HITS AIR POCKET ON GUARANTEE SCHEMES IN KARNATAKA

The Congress, which got a decisive mandate in Karnataka thanks to five guarantee schemes, has now been forced to defer at least three of them after facing hurdles and glitches, thereby giving ammunition to the Opposition, including the BJP and the JDS.

- R. JAYAPRAKASH

The first 30 days of the new government have been all about how the Siddaramaiah-led government would fulfil the promises even as the state exchequer is expected to get poorer by at least Rs 60,000 crore to honour the poll promises. The five schemes—Anna Bhaghya (free rice), Gruha Shakti (200 units of free power), Gruha Lakshmi (Rs 2,000 for every household-woman), Shakti (free transport for women), Yuva Nidhi (Rs 2,000 for jobless youth)—were announced by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah with several riders and fine print after the first cabinet meeting, setting off a “foul” cry by the opposition and some sharp reactions from a section of society. However, the Congress has defended itself by saying that the outreach programme was for the needy.

Notwithstanding the fact that the party flew down the Gandhi siblings and AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge who have also signed and distributed guarantee cards, now the current dispensation has engaged in a political war of words over rice procurement from the Food Corporation of India. The state government had written to the FCI on 9 June about procuring 2.8 lakh metric tonnes of rice at around Rs 26 per kg and the corporation too had responded positively. But in a sudden U-turn, the FCI, citing a change in policy prompted by the Union ministry, expressed its inability, leading to a full-blown political slugfest between BJP and the Congress.