Minister KJ George says guarantee scheme money not monthly salary; BJP hits back
Bengaluru, Feb 19 (PTI): Karnataka Energy Minister K J George’s remark that funds from the guarantee schemes are "not like a monthly salary," in response to complaints about delays in payments to beneficiaries has drawn sharp criticism from opposition BJP leaders on Wednesday.
There have been complaints about non-payment of funds to beneficiaries of Anna Bhagya (which provides cash in lieu of the additional 5 kg of rice to every member of a BPL household) and Gruha Lakshmi (which offers Rs 2,000 per month to women heads of families) for the past couple of months in some cases.
Speaking to reporters in Chitradurga on Tuesday, George said, "Money is transferred every month to beneficiaries' bank accounts, but there may have been delays for some. Is there something the Minister should know about it? As soon as we are informed, steps will be taken to rectify it immediately. This is not like a monthly salary. The Chief Minister has assured that all pending payments will be cleared by May, as promised."
He added, "There may be a delay of 10 to 15 days due to various reasons."
Reacting sharply, the Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly, R Ashoka, questioned the Minister’s attitude toward voters.
"Is this your respect for voters? They are not begging for Gruha Lakshmi and Anna Bhagya funds. People did not ask you to introduce these guarantee schemes," he said.
Criticising the government for allegedly "belittling" voters after launching the schemes for electoral gains, Ashoka added, "If you can implement the guarantee schemes as promised, do so with respect. If not, step down. People were managing their lives before these schemes and will continue to do so without them."
"Do not insult the self-respect of Kannadigas. The Congress party has already lost ground across the country. If the self-respect of Kannadigas is hurt, it is guaranteed that Congress will be wiped out in Karnataka too," he warned.
BJP leader and MLC C T Ravi accused the government of "financial mismanagement", saying the Minister had made it seem as though the word "guarantee" carried a stigma.
"A guarantee means that money should be credited to beneficiaries' accounts as surely as the sun rises every day. But after listening to the Minister, it appears that Congress's guarantee is nothing but a fraud," he claimed.
ಸ್ವಾಮಿ ಸಚಿವ @thekjgeorge ಅವರೇ,
— R. Ashoka (@RAshokaBJP) February 19, 2025
ಗೃಹಲಕ್ಷ್ಮಿ, ಅನ್ನಭಾಗ್ಯ ಹಣ ತಿಂಗಳ ಸಂಬಳ ಅಲ್ವಲ್ಲ ಅಂತ ಹೇಳಿದ್ದೀರಲ್ಲಾ, ಇದೇನಾ ಮತದಾರರಿಗೆ ನೀವು ಕೊಡುವ ಗೌರವ?
ಗೃಹಲಕ್ಷ್ಮಿ ಹಣ ಕೊಡಿ, ಅನ್ನಭಾಗ್ಯದ ಹಣ ಕೊಡಿ ಅಂತ ಮಾತಾದರರೇನು ನಿಮ್ಮ ಬಳಿ ಭಿಕ್ಷೆ ಬೇಡುತ್ತಿಲ್ಲ. ಈ ಗ್ಯಾರೆಂಟಿ ಯೋಜನೆಗಳನ್ನು ಪ್ರಾರಂಭಿಸಿ ಅಂತ ಜನತೆ ಕೇಳಿಯೂ ಇರಲಿಲ್ಲ.
ನಿಮ್ಮ… pic.twitter.com/GLuxxEmUZS
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Screenwriter Salim Khan on ventilator support and stable, say doctors
Mumbai (PTI): Veteran screenwriter Salim Khan suffered a brain haemorrhage which has been tackled, is on ventilator support as a safeguard and stable, doctors treating him said on Wednesday, a day after he was admitted to the Lilavati Hospital here.
The 90-year-old, one half of the celebrated Salim-Javed duo which scripted films such as "Sholay", "Deewar" and "Don" with Javed Akhtar, is in the ICU and recovery might take some time given his age.
"His blood pressure was high for which we treated him and we had to put him on a ventilator because we wanted to do certain investigations. Now the ventilator was put as a safeguard so that his situation doesn't get worse. So it is not that he is critical," Dr Jalil Parkar told reporters.
"We did the investigations that were required and today we have done a small procedure on him, I will not go into the details. The procedure done is called DSA (digital subtraction angiography). The procedure has been accomplished, he is fine and stable and shifted back to ICU. By tomorrow, we hope to get him off the ventilator. All in all, he is doing quite well," he added.
Asked whether he suffered a brain haemorrhage, the doctor said, "Unko thoda haemorrhage hua tha, which we’ve tackled. No surgery is required.
As concern over Khan's health mounted, his children, including superstar Salman Khan and Arbaaz Khan, daughter Alvira, and sons-in-law Atul Agnihotri and Aayush Sharma, have been seen outside the hospital along with other well-wishers. His long-time partner Akhtar was also seen coming out of the hospital.
Khan, a household name in the 70s and 80s, turned 90 on November 24 last year. It was the day Dharmendra, the star of many of his films, including "Sholay", "Seeta aur Geeta" and "Yaadon Ki Baraat", passed away.
Hailing from an affluent family in Indore, Khan arrived in Mumbai in his 20s with dreams of stardom. He was good looking and confident he would make a mark in the industry as an actor. But that did not happen. And then, after struggling for close to a decade and getting confined to small roles in films, he changed lanes.
He worked as an assistant to Abrar Alvi and soon met Akhtar to form one of Hindi cinema's most formidable writing partnerships. They worked together on two dozen movies with most of them achieving blockbuster status.
Other than "Sholay", "Deewar" and "Don", Khan and Akhtar also penned "Trishul", "Zanjeer", "Seeta Aur Geeta", "Haathi Mere Saathi", "Yaadon Ki Baarat" and "Mr India".
