Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah during the Republic Day celebrations at Manekshaw Parade Ground in Bengaluru on January 26, 2024.
| Photo Credit: The Hindu
Outlining the achievements of the Congress government in Karnataka in 2023 and terming the State as progressive, Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot on January 26, said the five guarantee schemes were being implemented successfully in the State.
Presiding over the Republic Day celebrations at Field Marshal Manekshaw Parade Ground in Bengaluru, the Governor said his government is working hard to realise the aspirations of the Constitution.
“My government had assured the people of Karnataka that we would implement the five guarantees — Shakti Yojane, Anna Bhagya, Gruha Jyoti, Gruha Lakshmi and Yuva Nidhi programme. I am happy to state that we have implemented all the five guarantees in the State,” he said.
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“On June 11, 2023, the ambitious Shakti Yojane (free bus travel scheme for women) was launched to complement the government’s move for women empowerment. Over 3.5 crore women in the State, including gender minorities and students are benefitting from this scheme. Women passengers have made 134.34 crore trips since the inception of Shakti Yojane till date,” he said.
Following an excellent response to the scheme, priority has been given to increase the number of buses and services of all road transport corporations in the State. During the past eight months, 1,148 new buses of various models have been added, he said.
Guarantee schemes
Under the ambitious Annabhagya Yojane, the State government had committed to distributing an additional 5 kg foodgrain along with the 5 kg being distributed under the National Food Security Act to each beneficiary of Anthyodaya Anna Yojana and Priority Household Ration card, thus making 10 kg food grain available to each beneficiary. Presently, till foodgrain required for this scheme are available, each eligible beneficiary is being given ₹34 per kg in lieu of additional 5 kg foodgrain. This amount is being credited to the bank account of the family members through DBT. From July 2023 to the end of November 2023, ₹2,900.12 crore have been transferred to eligible candidates, the Governor said.
Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot during the Republic Day celebrations at Manekshaw Parade Ground in Bengaluru on January 26, 2024.
| Photo Credit:
The Hindu
Under the Gruha Jyoti scheme, free electricity is being provided to every household in the State subject to a maximum consumption limit of 200 units per month. As many as 1.50 crore consumers of the State are benefiting from this scheme and the government is releasing a subsidy of ₹700 crore every month in advance to all the ESCOMS in the State, he said.
A grant of ₹17,500 crore has been allocated under the Gruha Lakshmi scheme, which provides ₹2,000 to the woman head of every eligible family in the State. Over 1.17 crore women beneficiaries have registered and a total grant of ₹8,181 crore has been released to the said beneficiaries through DBT, he said.
Under Yuva Nidhi Yojane, all graduates and diploma holders, who passed out during in the academic year 2022-2023 and could not secure employment even after completion of 180 days, would get a monthly allowance of ₹3,000 and ₹1,500 respectively as unemployment allowance for a period of two years or until employed within two years. This scheme has been implemented on the occasion of National Youth Day i.e., on Swami Vivekananda Jayanti, he said.
Drought relief, input subsidy
“As per norms and procedures delineated in the Drought Manual 2020, Karnataka has declared drought in 223 out of 236 taluks. Of these, 196 taluks are categorised as severely drought-affected,” he said.
The State government had sought funds from the NDRF for undertaking drought relief and mitigation measures in the 196 drought-affected taluks. “To alleviate the distress, an interim relief of Input Subsidy of upto ₹2,000 per farmer in the drought declared taluks is being released by the State government directly to their Aadhaar-linked bank account. The process to transfer about ₹580 crore to around 30 lakh farmers is underway,” he pointed out.
Brand Bengaluru
Lauding the ‘Brand Bengaluru’ concept, the Governor said advice was sought from experts and the public on eight key issues. Discussions were held with public associations, civil defense forums, industry sector experts. Accordingly, more than 70,000 suggestions were collected and a committee is examining the suggestions and will make recommendations, he said.
To find a permanent solution to the congestion in Bengaluru city, construction of tunnel roads at select places has been proposed. The process of preparation of a Detailed Project Report with the help of an international agency for construction of a tunnel road of two km distance has been initiated, he said.
