Karnataka Government: Siddaramaiah's new cabinet gives approval to 5 guarantee schemes

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said on Saturday that the first cabinet meeting has given approval in principle to implement the five guarantee schemes promised in the Congress party's election manifesto. Even as Karnataka's new cabinet gave approval to the five guarantees, former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi thanked voters of Karnataka, saying that her party's win in the state is the rejection of divisive politics.

"It's a rejection of divisive politics, corruption": Sonia Gandhi thanks Karnataka people for historic mandate

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Addressing the first press conference at Vidhana Soudha after taking over as the Chief Minister, Siddaramaiah stated that it has been agreed upon in the cabinet to implement five guarantees.

"The details are being worked out. The next cabinet meeting will be held next week," he said.

No matter how much money is required for the schemes, we will implement them as per our promise," he underlined.

He maintained that for per month, 200 units of electricity is free for households under Gruha Jyothi scheme and it will cost about Rs 1,200 crore per month. Similarly, Rs 2,000 would be given under the Gruhalaxmi scheme for women heads of family reeling under price rise.

All unemployed graduates from engineers to MBBS will get Rs 2,000 for two years while diploma holders will get Rs 1,500.

Bus passes will be issued to all women from Karnataka and they can travel free in all government transport vehicles barring luxury vehicles.

"The details are being worked out. It is agreed upon and we will not go back on our decision no matter how much money is required," Siddaramaiah reiterated.

Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar added that to hold the accountability, the details of the beneficiaries have to be collected and it takes some time.

Siddaramaiah stated that an order would be issued to restart Indira canteens all over the state to provide subsidised food to the poor.

He maintained that from Monday (May 22), a three-day assembly session has been called and a request in this regard had been sent to Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot.

"This is to constitute the new assembly. Senior leader R.V. Deshpande will act as the pro-tem Speaker. The new speaker would be announced in the session," he said.

Siddaramaiah said that this year, the state will get Rs 50,000 crore from the Centre.

"When compared to other states, Karnataka is meted out with injustice. The state pays Rs 4 lakh crore as tax to the Central government," Siddaramaiah stated.

(With inputs from IANS)