CM Siddaramaiah said the total expense for the committees would be ₹6-7 crore a year, which he claimed would not burden the state exchequer.
Karnataka Congress leaders at a meeting on Wednesday, 10 January 2024. (siddaramaiah/X)
The Siddaramaiah-led Karnataka government appears to be blurring the line between the administration and the party.
Incumbent Congress government is set to create a parallel system, with government perks and funds, to supervise and monitor the implementation of five promises made in the run-up to the 2023 Assembly elections.
The decision comes when the government already has a full cabinet of 34 ministers, seven Cabinet-rank advisors to Chief Minister and an administrative setup of officials.
The parallel system, entirely manned by Congress party cadre, is set to be run at the cost of the state exchequer.
This decision was taken in the Congress party meeting held at the Bharat Jodo Bhavan in Bengaluru City on Wednesday, 10 January.
The meeting was held under the headship of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, and AICC general secretary and the Congress’ Karnataka in-charge Randeep Singh Surjewala.
At the meeting, the Congress government decided to set up committees at three different levels — the state level, the district level, and the Assembly constituency level — to monitor the effective implementation of guarantees in Karnataka.
All these committees will have a president, vice-president, and members, who are members of the Congress.
“The state-level committee president and five deputy presidents would be given Cabinet and state-ministry ranks, respectively. We will appoint 31 persons as committee members,” Siddaramaiah, Chief Minister, Karnataka told reporters.
The chairpersons of the district committees will be given an honorarium of up to ₹50,000 per month.
Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar clarified that preference would be given only to “loyal and active Congress workers” and that none of the ministers, MLAs, and MLCs would be considered for these committees.
The state exchequer would have to shell out around ₹16 crore for the operation and functioning of these committees, according to the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO).
The meeting also saw the participation of 33 Cabinet ministers, including Shivakumar, as well as District Congress Committee presidents and other senior leaders.
ಇಂದು ಕೆಪಿಸಿಸಿ ಕಚೇರಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ನಡೆದ ಜಿಲ್ಲಾ ಕಾಂಗ್ರೆಸ್ ಸಮಿತಿ ಅಧ್ಯಕ್ಷರು ಹಾಗೂ ಜಿಲ್ಲಾ ಉಸ್ತುವಾರಿ ಸಚಿವರ ಸಭೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಪಾಲ್ಗೊಂಡು, ಮಾತನಾಡಿದೆ.
ಜಿಲ್ಲಾ ಹಾಗೂ ತಾಲ್ಲೂಕು ಮಟ್ಟದಲ್ಲಿ ಗ್ಯಾರಂಟಿ ಯೋಜನೆಗಳ ಅನುಷ್ಠಾನ ಸಮಿತಿಗಳನ್ನು ರಚಿಸಲಾಗುವುದು.
ವಿಧಾನಸಭೆಯಲ್ಲಿಯೂ ಒಂದು ಸಮಿತಿ ಇರಲಿದ್ದು, ರಾಜ್ಯಮಟ್ಟದಲ್ಲಿ ಅಧ್ಯಕ್ಷರು, ಐದು ಜನ… pic.twitter.com/pGOQls3Vyv— Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) January 10, 2024
After the meeting, Siddaramaiah told reporters on Wednesday: “We have taken another significant decision to form committees for the implementation of all the five guarantees.”
He added: “We will appoint 31 members to the state-level committee. The district-level committee will comprise a chairman, a deputy chairman, and 21 members. The constituency-level committee will consist of a chairman, a deputy chairman and 11 members.”
Siddaramaiah also said: “We have decided to give ₹50,000 honorarium to the district-committee presidents. We are also thinking of giving about ₹20,000-25,000 to constituency committee presidents. We will give only a sitting fee to members of all these committees.”
He continued: “We are going to set up these committees within a week. These committees will start functioning immediately.”
They are expected to look after the implementation of all five guarantees of the Congress.
“We are spending ₹38,000 crore to implement guarantees for the current fiscal year. It is not a small programme but a big one,” said the chief minister.
He added: “Importantly, money is being directly transferred to beneficiaries without any middleman. Around 1.20 crore families are getting ₹4,000-5,000 every month. It will total around ₹48,000 [per year]. It is universal basic income for all the unprivileged communities.”
The chief minister also said: “Around 4.3 crore of the total population of the state are getting one or the other benefit (guarantees). No other government has made such an effort earlier to ensure such a big sum is directly reached to beneficiaries.”
Siddaramaiah added: “There are no guidelines. Active senior party workers will be considered [for the posts in the committees].”
The chief minister, however, also said that these committees would not be a burden on the state exchequer.
When South First asked the chief minister, why these committees were necessary when there were 34 cabinet ministers including him and 62 Cabinet-rank IAS officers, he fumed and replied: “Why should we be here when there are IAS officers? There are officers to implement the programmes but these committees will supervise and monitor whether the deserving people are getting the benefits.”
He added: “When giving houses to the beneficiaries, we set up Ashraya committees, where Tahsildars and others are members.”
The chief minister continued: “We give ₹59,000 crore annually for the implementation of guarantees. Should it not reach the deserving people? These committees would cost around ₹6-7 crore annually.”
It may be noted that the state government recently appointed senior MLAs Basavaraj Rayreddy and BR Patil as financial advisor and advisor to the chief minister, respectively, with Cabinet rank.
He also has a legal advisor, a media advisor, a chief advisor, and two political secretaries with Cabinet rank.
Article 164(1A) of the Constitution states the total number of ministers, including the chief minister, cannot exceed 15 percent of the total members of the Legislative Assembly of a state.
As the Karnataka Assembly is a 224-member house, hence, a maximum of 34 ministers can be in the Cabinet.
Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Minister and Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president DK Shivakumar told reporters on Wednesday: “The first list of chairpersons for boards and corporations will be released shortly. The list is most likely to be released after 14 January. We have set up a two-year term for the chairmanship.”
He added: “This decision has been taken to provide opportunity to maximum party workers and leaders. This will apply to all the members and the chairman of all the committees.”
Stating that he was not happy with the Congress candidates shortlisted for the Lok Sabha polls, Shivakumar said: “The chief minister, I, and the AICC general secretary are carrying out a survey to select the candidate for the elections.”
He added: “We have also appointed ministers in charge of 28 parliamentary constituencies. The high command has called a meeting of Cabinet ministers of four states in Delhi on 11 January. They will give us directions about how to face the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls.”
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