'Govt schemes should cover entire society'

BJP MLA C T Ravi on Tuesday said populist programmes of the government should cover the entire spectrum of society and should not be confined to any community.

Participating in a discussion in the Legislative Assembly, Ravi said the Shaadi Bhagya scheme was meant only to provide financial assistance to women of the minority community during marriage. “Why not replace it with Kalyana Bhagya and extend it to the BPL families of all communities,” the member asked.

He said the previous BJP government, which had launched schemes like Bhagyalakshmi (insurance cover for the girl child in BPL families) and providing free bicycle to schoolchildren, did not restrict the programmes to any community. “It is an irony that we are branded communal and you claim yourself secular,” he told the treasury benches.