'Will he? Will he not?' All eyes on CM Siddaramaiah's 2nd Cabinet meeting on rollout of 5 guarantees
Bengaluru (PTI): All eyes are set on the Karnataka Cabinet meeting on Friday where a decision will be taken on implementing the five guarantees promised by the ruling Congress during the Assembly elections in May.
The Congress had said that it will implement these schemes if it formed a government in Karnataka. The party stormed into the Vidhana Soudha by winning 135 out of 224 seats winning an absolute majority. Now, it is the Congress' turn to fulfil its promises After the people reposed their faith in it, the Congress
The five guarantees promised are 200 units of free power to all households (Gruha Jyoti), Rs 2,000 monthly assistance to the woman head of every family (Gruha Lakshmi), 10 kg of rice free to every member of a BPL household (Anna Bhagya), Rs 3,000 every month for unemployed graduate youth and Rs 1,500 for unemployed diploma holders (both in the age group of 18-25) for two years (Yuva Nidhi), and free travel for women in public transport buses (Shakti).
The Congress government has estimated that the implementation of these schemes may cost about Rs 50,000 crore every year.
"We have announced five guarantees. We discussed them elaborately yesterday. Tomorrow, we will take a decision. We have assured that we will give 10 kg rice. There is no second thought about implementing it but I will explain to you after the Cabinet decision," Food and Civil Supplies Minister K H Muniyappa had said while speaking to reporters on Thursday.
Explaining further, he said: "We will implement the guarantees we have promised in a phased manner."
With regard to the Anna Bhagya scheme, he said the state government will ask the Centre and the Food Corporation of India (FCI) to provide rice to Karnataka.
"In case, they (Centre and the FCI) refuse, we on our own will procure rice through tender or though organisations and distribute it to the beneficiaries," Muniyappa said.
During elections, Congress leader and former party president Rahul Gandhi had said these schemes will be implemented on the day the government took over.
However, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah after assuming power on May 20 said the government has agreed in principle to implement the guarantees and sought time till the next cabinet meeting.
"We have given approval in principle. We will get details, discuss, financial implications will be looked into and then we will do it for sure. Whatever the financial implications may be, we will fulfil these five guarantee schemes," Siddaramaiah had told reporters after the first Cabinet meeting.
When asked when it will be implemented, he said: "Most likely it will be implemented after the next cabinet meeting," and added, "Already cabinet decision has been taken. We need to work out details such as its financial implications."
When asked why these aspects were not looked at before making the promises, the Chief Minister underlined, "The promises have been agreed upon. We will not go back."
Siddaramaiah said spending Rs 50,000 crore on these guarantees will not be a burden for the state, whose budget is about Rs Rs 3 lakh crore annually.
The opposition BJP is also waiting with bated breath to see how the Congress implements these guarantees, which according to them, will push the state towards bankruptcy.
The BJP has alleged that the government has no intention to implement the guarantees and had made false promises to come to power.
"They said they will implement it on the day they assume power but they could not do it. The delay has proved that the Congress is a party of cheats," BJP state president Nalin Kumar Kateel said.
According to some Congress leaders, there will be some conditions attached to these schemes.
The Gruha Lakshmi promising Rs 2,000 to the women head of the families is meant for those who are Below Poverty Line. Even the Anna Bhagya scheme providing 10 kg foodgrains is for BPL families.
Even Gruha Jyothi scheme offering 200 units of free power will be for the economically weaker sections, they said.
Regarding Shakti scheme, Congress leaders said there will be no conditions attached but it will specify in which buses women can travel free of cost.
An estimate prepared by Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) shows that its operational cost itself is over Rs 12,000 crore whereas its revenues are just over Rs 9,000 crore.
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Ban on outsiders' entry extended in Sambhal, SP MPs barred from entering
Lucknow/Sambhal (UP) (PTI): Three Samajwadi Party parliamentarians, including its Sambhal MP, were stopped from entering the violence-hit district, as the administration on Saturday extended the ban on the entry of outsiders into Sambhal to December 10 to maintain "peace and order".
The administration's earlier ban on the entry of outsiders was to expire on Saturday.
The Samajwadi Party's Muzaffarnagar MP Harendra Malik, accompanied by its Kairana and Sambhal MPs, was stopped from entering Sambhal from Ghaziabad.
"I don't understand why we are being stopped. Are the opposition leader and the MPs so irresponsible that they can't be allowed to move within the state?" Malik said.
The party had earlier announced a 15-member delegation would visit the district to gather information about the violence that broke out over a court-ordered survey of the Shahi Jama Masjid.
Curbs under Section 163 (power to issue order in urgent cases of nuisance or apprehended danger) of the Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita, set to expire on Sunday, were extended to December 31.
In a statement issued in Sambhal, District Magistrate Rajendra Pensiya said, "To maintain peace and order, the imposition of Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita in the district has been extended to December 31."
"No outsider, any social organisation or public representative can enter into the borders of the district without seeking the permission of the competent authority till December 10," he added.
Tension had been brewing in Sambhal since November 19 when the court-ordered survey of the Mughal-era mosque was carried out following claims that a Harihar temple previously stood at the site.
Violence erupted during a second survey on November 24 as protesters gathered near the mosque and clashed with security personnel, leading to stone pelting and arson. Four people died and several others were injured in the clashes. The police have denied allegations that it fired at the protesters.
The Supreme Court has since ordered the Sambhal trial court to halt proceedings in the case and its survey.
Pensiya further said, "If anyone tries to spread rumours on any group on social media, the group admin will delete the post and immediately inform the police. Cyber cafes will keep a register to enter the names of visitors. No person in Sambhal will burn effigies at public places."
Malik, who was stopped from entering Sambhal, further said, "Our delegation also included MPs Zia-ur-Rehman Barq (Sambhal) and Iqra Hasan (Kairana). What can we do? The government is acting in an autocratic manner."
Sambhal MP Barq has been booked in connection with the November 24 violence for "provocative acts".
In Moradabad, Samajwadi Party MP Ruchi Veera's residence was surrounded by cops to prevent her from travelling to Sambhal.
Leader of Opposition in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly Mata Prasad Pandey, who was to lead the delegation, told reporters outside his Lucknow residence that Home Secretary Sanjay Prasad called him and requested him to not visit Sambhal.
Pandey is sitting on a dharna in Lucknow.
"The Sambhal district magistrate also called and told me that the ban on the entry of outsiders had been extended. I will now visit the party office and discuss the issue before deciding on our next action," he said.
"The government perhaps wanted to prevent me in order to hide its wrongdoings in Sambhal as our visit would have exposed its mistakes," he added.
Heavy security has been deployed outside Pandey's residence since Friday.
The Samajwadi Party had postponed an earlier visit after assurances from the director general of police about a fair investigation into the violence.
Congress state chief Ajay Rai earlier told PTI that a party delegation would visit Sambhal on December 2.
