Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai handing over a cheque to a beneficiary at a convention of beneficiaries of government scheme, at Karavali Utsav ground, in Mangaluru on March 16, 2023.
| Photo Credit: H S MANJUNATH
Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said that Congress governments had been running 85% governments, as admitted by the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi who had said that only 15 paise out of every rupee released by the government actually reaches the intended beneficiary.
On the other hand, the BJP government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi introduced the direct benefit transfer (DBT) scheme to ensure that not a single paise is grabbed by middlemen. Nearly 1.7 lakh farmers in Dakshina Kannada district have received over ₹500 crore under the Kissan Samman Scheme over four years without any middlemen.
Karnataka is awaiting announcement of dates for Assembly elections.
Speaking at the meeting of beneficiaries of government schemes in Mangaluru, Mr. Bommai said his ‘Raitha Vidyanidhi’ has ensured that children of every farmer gets access to education. As many as 41,859 farmers’ children have received Vidya Nidhi scholarship in their bank accounts in 2022.
During his recent interaction with Vidyanidhi beneficiaries at Moodbidri, a scheduled caste girl student told him that she had received Vidya Nidhi scholarship without submitting any application. Since she gets scholarships under SC/ST category too, she wanted the Vidyanidhi money to be given to other deserving students, Mr. Bommai said appreciating her gesture.
Yet, neither Mr. Modi nor he claimed any publicity for these transparent schemes, Mr. Bommai stated adding if Congress was to introduce these schemes, they would have grabbed the opportunity to get publicity. “Actually, Congress would not have introduced such pro-people schemes at all,” he said.
The Chief Minister said Congress’ guarantee of 200 units of free power to every household per month is a farce. “No ordinary household uses more than 80 units of power and the promise was a hollow one. Similarly, its promise of 10 kg free rice is not realistic. It actually reduced free rice from 10 kg to 5 kg upon coming to power in 2013, and increased it to 7 kg before the 2018 Assembly elections.
The Chief Minister listed out several beneficial schemes introduced by the ‘double engine’ government in the coast, including increase in kerosene allocation for traditional fishermen, 50% subsidy to buy large fishing boats under Pradhan Mantri Matsya Samapada scheme, Vidya Nidhi, affordable housing for fishermen, setting up of Narayana Guru Development Board for Billavas and Edigas, and opening of free residential schools.
At the end, he symbolically distributed benefits to targeted groups, including subsidy for large fishing boats that ranged from ₹45 lakh to ₹72 lakh per boat. Development of the coast is development of the State, Mr. Bommai said adding the government is committed to coastal development.
The Chief Minister was accompanied by Minister in charge of Dakshina Kannada and also Minister for Energy, Kannada and Culture V. Sunil Kumar, and BJP legislators from the district.
