Jana Mana event to mark Cong govt's third anniversary

To mark his government’s third anniversary, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will chair a massive interaction programme, Jana Mana, with the beneficiaries of some the Congress government’s flagship welfare schemes.

On Friday, Siddaramaiah will interact with around 600 beneficiaries of his pet schemes such as Anna Bhagya, Ksheera Bhagya, Vasathi Bhagya, Runa Muktha, Ksheera Dhare and Arogya Bhagya, from across the state. The beneficiaries will include students and transgenders.

Siddaramaiah had first initiated Jana Mana in Mysuru last year, which has subsequently been extended to other districts where beneficiaries aired their grievances and gave their feedback.

The aim of the event is to improvise upon the schemes and programmes launched by the Congress government, according to officials. Government sources said efforts were already on to tweak or incorporate changes to the major flagship programmes. This was being done following the receipt of complaints or feedback from the beneficiaries.

The government is “seriously considering” extending the Ksheera Bhagya scheme from the existing three days to five days a week. Under the scheme, milk is provided to government school students in classes 1 to 10.

Sources said the students had placed a demand that milk be distributed to them on five days. The government was supposed to make this announcement during Friday’s programme. However, as the code of conduct for the MLC elections is on, the announcement has to be put off.

The government is also contemplating increasing the scholarship amount under the Vidyasiri scheme. Currently, the government is disbursing Rs 1,500 per student under the scheme. However, during the Jana Mana programme conducted at the district level, students had said the amount was insufficient. They had also complained that the amount was not reaching them in time. Sources said Siddaramaiah had instructed the authorities to ensure there was no delay in the disbursal of the scholarship amount.

Under Krishi Bhagya, too, the government has decided to bring about some relaxation. Here, farmers were supposed to purchase plastic sheets to cover water ponds from government-designated vendors. But it has now been decided to let farmers purchase the sheets on their own, as there were a lot of complaints.

The information department, which is organising the event, has handpicked 10 or more beneficiaries from each district, who were brought to Bengaluru on Thursday evening. The event, scheduled to start at 4 pm, will be held at the Babu Rajendra Prasad International Convention Centre, GKVK, in the city.

A majority of Siddaramaiah’s Cabinet colleagues are scheduled to participate in the programmes. The government is spending around Rs 8 lakh to organise the event, the sources said.