Karnataka Govt To Provide 200 Units Of Free Electricity From July 1: CM Siddaramaiah After Cabinet Meeting

Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah held a meeting of senior officers before the state cabinet meeting which decided that all five promises made by the Congress will be implemented in the present financial year.

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah announced on Friday that his cabinet decided the government will begin providing 200 units of free electricity from July 1 all five poll guarantees will be implemented in the present financial year. He held a meeting of senior officers of the state government before the state cabinet meeting where a decision was taken on the five promises made by the Congress ahead of the recent assembly election which it contested successfully. Earlier, CM Siddaramaiah had said that his government gave in-principle approval for the schemes and financial implications were to be looked into. 

"We held a cabinet meeting today. We discussed all five promises thoroughly. We have decided that all five guarantees will be implemented in the present financial year: Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah said, as quoted by news agency ANI.

The Karnataka Chief Minister said that the government will begin providing 200 units of free electricity from July 1. "200 units of electricity will be free...Consumers who haven't paid their bills till July will have to pay," he said.

"At the time of the election and before that, we announced 5 guarantees. Our (Karnataka) president DK Shivakumar and I signed the guarantee cards and promised that we will implement all promises and make sure they reach people. We also distributed guarantee cards," he mentioned.

Five Guarantees Promised By Congress

The five guarantees promised by the Congress 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 (YuvaNidhi), and free travel for women in public transport buses (Shakti).

After the first cabinet meeting, CM Siddaramaiah had said that his government gave approval in principle and financial implications will be looked into. Whatever the financial implications may be, we will fulfill these five guarantee schemes, Siddaramaiah had told reporters, as per news agency PTI.

When asked when it will be implemented, the Karnataka Chief Minister had said that the guarantees would most likely it will be implemented after the second cabinet meeting.

 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 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 said while speaking to reporters on Thursday.

Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar also assured that the Congress government committed to implementing the guarantees, "After the officials shared their views and information, we have asked them to rework and present it before the cabinet.”

Meanwhile, the opposition BJP has also been waiting with bated breath to see how the Congress implements these guarantees, which according to them, will push the state towards financial bankruptcy.

The BJP 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 remarked.