A senior minister from Karnataka has requested the party top brass in Delhi to revamp guarantee schemes by limiting it to only the poor to reduce burden on state exchequer.
The minister, who met Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Karnataka in-charge Congress General Secretary Randeep Surjewala here, apprised them about the ‘concern’ expressed by a large number of legislators of the lack of funds for development after implementation of the guarantee scheme, sources in the Congress said here.
If the guarantee schemes were limited to only below poverty line card holders in the state, the state exchequer would save at least Rs 25,000 crore per annum and the same amount could be spent on other developmental works, the leader is said to have suggested to Congress leaders.
Citing the Congress' poor performance in Lok Sabha polls, he said it was a clear indication that such a scheme won't help the party electorally. The state senior leader also brought to the party high command's notice about the state legislators facing wrath from the public about pending developmental works including roads and drinking water facilities.
As the launching of some of the guarantee schemes completed one year last month, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah recently said in the national capital that he too had noticed that some of the MLAs and other leaders were demanding the stopping of the scheme.
Ruling out the stopping of the guarantee scheme, the CM said the government would also keep welfare of the poor in mind while cutting down expenditure of the guarantee scheme.
Earlier this year, Siddaramaiah, who also holds the finance portfolio, while presenting state budget announced Rs.1,20,373 crore for welfare programmes, of which a whopping 43 per cent (Rs.52,000 crore) has been set aside for the five guarantee schemes– Shakti, Gruhajyoti, Gruha Lakshmi, Yuvanidhi and Anna Bhagya.
Comments
Add new comment