Siddaramaiah pledges to implement all guarantees in the current financial year, government tables six Bills.
Published Jul 05, 2023 | 9:58 PM ⚊ Updated Jul 06, 2023 | 7:32 AM
The Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru. (Pic for representation only)
The BJP members on Wednesday, 5 July, withdrew their protest in the Karnataka Assembly against the non-implementation of the five guarantees of the ruling Congress, after Speaker UT Khader gave them time to raise the issue after the Zero Hour.
BJP MLA R Ashok moved an adjournment motion for a debate on the delay in implementing the five guarantees the Congress had made in its poll manifesto.
On Tuesday, 4 July, the proceedings of both the Legislative Assembly and Council were disrupted when the BJP members rose in protest after the Speaker disallowed interim Opposition Leader Basavaraj Bommai to move an adjournment motion on the issue.
As soon as the session resumed on Wednesday, the BJP members sought time to discuss the poll guarantees. They withdrew their protest after the Speaker agreed to allot time after the zero hour.
BJP senior MLA Ashok came down heavily on the Siddaramaiah government for imposing conditions to avail the benefits of five poll guarantees unconditionally made during the run-up to the polls.
“The government introduced numerous conditions and limited the number of beneficiaries,” he alleged.
“These conditions for availing the benefits guaranteed are creating confusion among the people,” he said.
“While announcing the Shakti scheme, the Congress manifesto did not put any conditions but after coming to power, the government said the scheme is applicable for travel only in non-luxury buses,” he pointed out.
The Shakti scheme offers women free rides on government-run non-luxury buses within the state.
Ashok accused the government of operating only a limited number of buses, which led to a heavy rush that damaged the bus doors and windows.
“The crowded state-owned buses show that people do not have confidence in the government. Women believe that the scheme will be withdrawn soon and hence they are rushing to travel free of cost,” he added.
On the Gruha Jyoti scheme, Ashoka said, “The party should have stated it clearly in the manifesto that the average power consumption would be taken into consideration.” The scheme promises up to 200 units of free power to households.
Ashok said that the Gruha Lakshmi Yojana – a monthly financial assistance of ₹2,000 to women heads of families — has caused discord in many families.
The guarantee, he said, pitted mother-in-law and daughter-in-law against each other over who would be the head of the family.
“The Yuva Nidhi scheme will be applicable only after six months and it benefits only those who got a degree or diploma in the 2022-23 academic year,” he spoke briefly about all the five guarantees.
Responding to the allegations, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah reiterated that all guarantees will be implemented in the current fiscal year.
He sought to taunt the BJP over its failure in naming an Opposition leader. “The BJP has failed in appointing a Leader of the Opposition, but is talking about the failure of the guarantees,” he ridiculed.
ಅಧಿವೇಶನಕ್ಕೂ ಮೊದಲೇ ವಿರೋಧ ಪಕ್ಷದ ನಾಯಕನನ್ನು ಘೋಷಿಸುತ್ತೇವೆ ಎಂದಿತ್ತು @BJP4Karnataka , ಅಧಿವೇಶನ ಮೂರನೇ ದಿನಕ್ಕೆ ಕಾಲಿಟ್ಟರೂ ವಿಪಕ್ಷ ನಾಯಕನ ಸುಳಿವೇ ಇಲ್ಲ!
ಹೈಕಮಾಂಡ್ ನಾಯಕರು ಇಲ್ಲಿನ ನಾಯಕರಿಗೆ ಸದನದಲ್ಲಿ ಗಂಟಲು ಹರಿದುಕೊಳ್ಳುವ ಕಾಂಪಿಟೇಷನ್ ಇಟ್ಟಿರಬಹುದೇನೋ!
ಆ ಮೂಲಕವಾದರೂ ಬಿಜೆಪಿಗೆ ಒಬ್ಬ ವಿಪಕ್ಷ ನಾಯಕ ಸಿಗಲಿ ಎನ್ನುವುದು…
— Karnataka Congress (@INCKarnataka) July 5, 2023
“Ashok seems to be opposing free bus rides for women. Even if you stand up and create a ruckus, we will not be scared,” the chief minister said.
“The people have given their verdict in the Assembly elections. It should be a lesson for the BJP,” he further said.
On the implementation of the poll guarantees, he said: “Of the five guarantees, three have come into effect, one will be implemented from 16 July, while Yuva Nidhi will come into force six months later.”
It may be noted that while announcing the five guarantees, Siddaramaiah had assured of implementing all the five guarantees on the very first day of coming to power.
However, the government has implemented only two schemes Shakti and Gruha Jyothi. The government is struggling to procure rice to implement Anna Bhagya – 10 kgs of free rice for BPL and Antyodaya cardholders.
Instead of providing the promised free 10 kgs of rice under PDS to the beneficiaries, the government announced that it would pay ₹34 per kilo for five kilos of rice for July. At present, the Union Government is providing 5 kgs of rice to all BPL cardholders.
The government is yet to announce the date to apply for the Gruha Lakshmi scheme. The fifth guarantee, Yuva Nidhi, is likely to be implemented after six months.
On the third day of the ongoing budget session, the Siddaramaiah government introduced six Bills, including the Karnataka Agriculture Produce Marketing (Regulation and Development) Amendment Bill.
The other five bills tabled are: Transparency in Public Procurement (Amendment) Bill, Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Bill, Legislative Disqualification (Amendment) Bill, and Fire Brigade (Amendment) Bill.
The Congress has announced in its poll manifesto that it would repeal the APMC Act amendment if it was voted to power.
Amidst protests from farmers and opposition parties, the BS Yediyurappa government amended the APMC (Regulation and Development) Act of 1966 in 2020.
The BJP’s amendment to the APMC Act removed restrictions on farmers to sell their produce in their mandi and instead allowed them to sell the produce directly to buyers.
