Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said in Mandya on Sunday that it was imperative for the people to vote and elect a party that has delivered on its promises so as to ensure the State’s progress.
Speaking at a public meeting of beneficiaries of various guarantee schemes, Mr. Siddaramaiah said that the Congress has walked the talk and kept its promises on implementing the five guarantee schemes within months of assuming power.
‘’People of Karnataka have reposed faith in the Congress and this led to the victory of the party’s candidates in 136 constituencies which exceeded our expectations in the Assembly elections last year,” he said. Hence people of Mandya should ensure the victory of the Congress candidate in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections as well, he added.
The Chief Minister sought to remind the public that he had accorded priority to irrigation and agriculture during his previous tenure and he was committed to farmers welfare.
He said the government has released over ₹631 crore for 33.25 lakh farmers by way of compensation. In addition, ₹600 crore has been released to the Agriculture Department towards crop insurance and another ₹800 crore would be released in due course, said Mr. Siddaramaiah.
He said 170 crore free trips have been availed by women under Shakti scheme, of which 4.57 crore trips were logged in Mandya alone.
Referring to the Gruha Jyothi scheme, the Chief Minister said that in Mandya district alone 4,64,303 people have registered for it and so far ₹104 crore has been released by way of subsidy. Under Gruha Lakshmi sheme, 4,49,197 women have registered and availed of ₹512 crore by way of benefits, the Chief Minister added. Similarly, under Yuva Nidhi, 3,148 eligible youth have registered and ₹2 lakh has been disbursed so far, said Mr. Siddaramaiah.
The guarantee schemes have reached 4.6 crore people in the State and the government will earmark ₹52,009 crore for its implementation in the next year’s Budget, he added.
Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, Minister for Agriculture Cheluvarayaswamy, MLAs Ravikumar, Ramesh, Narendraswamy, Darshan Puttanaiah, Congress candidate for Mandya Lok Sabha constituency Venkatrame Gowda and others were present.
