Govt may face situation of withdrawing guarantees: BJP

Bengaluru: Following Himachal Pradesh CM SS Sukhu’s appeal to well-off consumers to forgo power subsidy, the BJP claimed on Thursday that the Karnataka government may soon face a similar situation with its five welfare guarantee schemes for the people.

Karnataka BJP President B.Y. Vijayendra stated on Thursday that it would not be sur-prising if the Karnataka government soon finds itself in the same situation as the Hi-machal Pradesh government.

“If the government under the leadership of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is committed to fulfilling the promises made to the people and ensuring the implementation of the guarantee schemes, it must immediately focus on increasing the state’s financial re-sources to generate revenue and introduce development projects to sustain the guar-antee schemes,” Vijayendra noted.“The Congress-led government in Himachal Pradesh serves as evidence of how schemes fail when a government is unable to balance financial resources and pro-vide funding for the hollow promises it makes.“In Karnataka, the Congress government, which is already facing challenges in man-aging the five guarantees, is incurring heavy losses under the Shakti scheme which facilitates free travel across the state for women in RTC buses,” Vijayendra claimed.“The Congress-led government is now planning to provide an interest-free loan of Rs 2,000 crore to all four government-owned transport corporations. To offset the losses incurred under the Gruha Jyoti scheme, which provides free power up to 200 watts for all households, electricity rates for the commercial and industrial sectors have been increased, indirectly burdening the common people,” Vijayendra claimed.“Unable to allocate funds for the Gruha Lakshmi scheme, under which Rs 2,000 monthly allowance is promised for every woman head of the family in the state, the government is disbursing the pending installments in election time and using the scheme merely as a tool to build a vote bank,” Vijayendra allege.The Yuva Nidhi scheme which promises monthly allowance of Rs 3,000 for fresh graduates and Rs 1,500 for graduates for a period of two years, remains an unfulfilled dream for the youth, Vijayendra charged.“Farmers, labourers, youth, students, and women, who form the backbone of society and the nation’s human resources, have been neglected by the Congress govern-ment. By failing to formulate any significant schemes for their future and delivering development-less governance, the state treasury has been drained,” Vijayendra stat-ed.This is no secret to the people, as taxpayers bear the brunt of this failure every day, Vijayendra noted. Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday directed the bureaucrats and other civil servants in the state to ensure that the benefits of the welfare schemes reach all eligible people.“We have implemented five guarantees to ensure equality and strengthen purchasing power. These guarantees put money directly into people’s hands, bypassing middle-men. It is now your responsibility to ensure that these benefits reach people effectively,” he underlined.