Congress leaders said here on Friday that the five guarantee schemes were an effective instrument to help the poor and the State government was committed to implement it as long as it was in power.
This was highlighted at the convention of beneficiaries of five guarantee schemes from Mysuru district, held at the Maharaja’s College Grounds.
The Minister for Cooperation H.C. Mahadevappa who is also in charge of Mysuru district, said that all the five guarantee schemes were implemented within months after winning the elections and this was the only government in the country to have fulfilled pre-election promises in such a short time.
Mr. Mahadevappa said the guarantee schemes were not a political programme for the Congress but a tool to improve the living conditions of the economically impoverished people. It is the conviction of the Congress that people of the State should not be mired in poverty and hence took it upon itself to implement the five guarantee schemes which has helped shore up the living conditions of the people, he added. “The Congress under Chief Minister Siddaramaiah was striving to bridge economic inequality in society and reduce poverty,” said Mr. Mahadevappa.
He said though the State had announced 10 kg of free rice to the poor, the BJP at the Centre put a spoke into the scheme by refusing to release additional rice forcing the Congress to distribute five kg of rice and pay cash in lieu of rice for the remaining five kg.
K. Venkatesh, Minister for Animal Husbandry said the opposition was misleading the public stating that the five guarantee schemes would be withdrawn by Congress after the Lok Sabha elections but it is false propaganda. On the contrary, Mr. Siddaramaiah has earmarked ₹56,000 crore in the State Budget for the implementation of the guarantee schemes for the coming financial year, said Mr. Venkatesh.
Pointing out that 10 per cent of the eligible beneficiaries of Gruha Lakshmi scheme - under which ₹2000 is credited to the account of the woman heading the household – are yet to be covered, the minister said this was due to faulty documentation. “But there is no last date for rectification of errors in the documents and we appeal to all eligible women to submit the documents after due corrections and avail the benefit,” he added.
Narasimharaja MLA Tanvir Sait said though there was criticism against the guarantee schemes by the BJP and the Janata Dal (Secular) with senior BJP leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi scoffing at it, the same schemes are being rebadged as Prime Minister’s Guarantee Scheme with promise of implementation all over India.
The BJP leaders were engaged in fear mongering that the economy would collapse and the give guarantee schemes were not viable but was an election gimmick. But they are now emulating the same, he added.
The Congress leaders who spoke on the occasion said that not only had the guarantee scheme helped those in economic and financial distress but provided a ray of hope for the families to improve their living conditions.
Such conventions are being held in various districts to allay fears that the scheme would be scrapped after the Lok Sabha polls and to reinforce public faith in the government, said the Congress leaders.
