Bangalore: Will the Congress government continue populist schemes launched by the previous BJP government or replace them with its own brand of welfare schemes?
The Siddaramaiah-led government, which set off a primer of “Bhagya” schemes – from Anna Bhagya, Ksheera Bhagya, Shaadi Bhagya to Pravasa Bhagya, downplayed programmes of the previous government in order to gain political mileage.
However, the fear of losing support of people ahead of Lok Sabha polls next year, and growing criticism of Siddaramaiah’s brand of 'divisive' and 'discriminatory' welfare schemes seems to have forced the ruling party to persist with old schemes.
Suspense over the fate of BJP’s flagship programmes like “Bhagyalakshmi,” distribution of bicycles to school students, and disbursal of endowment funds to temples ended with the government sharing information on funds to be allocated for these schemes.
Primary and secondary education minister Kimmane Rathnakar said, “We have set aside Rs 122 crore in the current budget for the bicycle scheme for school students, and in the order dated October 1, 2013, we have directed the distributors to supply the bicycles to schools within 120 days (by March 1, 2014) or pay up penalty of one per cent of the bicycle cost every week till delivery.”
In the recently concluded legislature session, the government also shared information pertaining to a question on delay in disbursal of “Bhagyalakshmi” bonds (a scheme for girl child born into BPL families).
Women and child development minister B Umashree said, “The beneficiaries can enroll for the scheme within one year after the girl child is born. In 2012-13, Rs 755.39 crore was distributed to 4.01 lakh children. In 2012-13, another two lakh applications have been received and we have given out bonds to 76,885 beneficiaries from 2013-14 budget allocations. The remaining applications are under scrutiny.”
While the BJP government was accused of appeasing religious institutions by doling out huge amounts to temples, the Congress government is in no different mould.
The Siddaramaiah government has decided to distribute Rs 15 lakh each to “deserving” temples in every constituency.
Muzrai minister Prakash Hukkeri said, “Over the last three years, the BJP government released Rs 683 crore for renovation of temples, building community halls and Yatri Nivas. Of this, nearly Rs 38 crore remains unutilized by temples and the government ordered withdrawal of the same (order dated November 8, 2013) with the approval of the finance department. This amount will be distributed to deserving institutions in every constituency.”
