Karnataka Deputy CM D K Shivakumar reiterates guarantees are a 'burden', but will continue

Bengaluru: Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, on Thursday, reiterated that the five guarantees were a ‘burden’ on the state government, but there was no question of discontinuing them.

The debate over whether the Karnataka government’s flagship guarantee schemes are a financial burden intensified after the ruling party leaders expressed contrasting views on the sustainability of these programmes.

Shivakumar had previously stated that the guarantees were a ‘burden’ but the Congress government hoped to empower the people financially and make them ‘mentally strong’.

“There is no question of stopping the guarantee schemes. Our government is financially sound. Some women have come forward to give up the benefits stating they are well off. There have been instances of instalments being paid to deceased beneficiaries. We might weed out such cases only,” added Shivakumar.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah played down his deputy’s admission that the schemes were a burden, and said, “Perhaps, he (DCM) meant the schemes cost around Rs 52,000 crore annually, and we have spent around Rs 1.2 lakh crore.”

Home Minister G Parameshwara, who was the 2023 Assembly manifesto committee chairman, defended the schemes and said it was ‘collective’ decision to implement the guarantees. Referring to recent remarks by KPCC president about financial strain, Parameshwara said the leadership would discuss the issue internally.

Industries Minister M B Patil rejected the argument that guarantees impacted development and called the guarantee schemes a ‘key part’ of development. “These were promises made to the poor before the elections and are being implemented accordingly,” he said.

Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Council Chalavadi Narayanaswamy claimed the ‘Karnataka model’ of welfare was under financial stress.

He alleged that pending payments, including nearly Rs 5,000 crore under the Gruha Lakshmi scheme, indicate strain. “If not for the BJP raising the issue, the government would have discontinued the guarantees. Now instalments are being skipped,” he mocked.

Limit guarantee schemes to poor only: Hariprasad  

Senior Congress leader B K Hariprasad on Thursday said that the state government should remove affluent people from the list of beneficiaries of the five guarantee schemes. “I have been suggesting to the government that it should not give benefits of guarantee schemes to income tax payers. Instead these schemes should focus only on the poor” he told reporters in New Delhi. The union government has already withdrawn gas subsidy benefits given to taxpayers. “Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi called upon the rich people to give up gas subsidy” Hariprasad said. “There is nothing wrong in removing rich people from the list of those receiving these benefits. The purpose of announcing guarantee schemes was to uplift the poor and help them economically. The government should focus on the welfare of the poor and give benefits to them” he said.