'People can give books if they want to express their love': Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah
The new state CM said that he would prefer books over flowers or shawls given by people as a mark of respect at various events.
PremiumKarnataka's new Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on 21 May said that he would prefer books over flowers or shawls given by people as a mark of respect at various events.
Taking to Twitter, Siddaramaiah said, "I have decided not to accept flowers or shawls from people who often give it as a mark of respect. This is for during both personal and public events. People can give books if they want to express their love and respect in the form of gifts. May all your love and affection continue to be on me."
Earlier on Saturday, CM Siddaramaiah said that as promised, the Congress government has in principle approved the 5 Guarantees announced in the party's manifesto before the elections.
It is estimated that ₹1200 crore is required to implement the Griha Jyoti scheme, to provide 200 Unit free power to every household. ₹2000 per month will be transferred to the head woman of the family, 10 kg rice will be given under Anna Bhagya and ₹3000/month will be given to unemployed graduates and ₹1500 to diploma holders who have passed out during the current educational year for up to 2 years. Women, who are residents of the State would be given free bus pass to travel in Government Buses, he informed.
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Adding more, he said that guidelines are being worked out in detail and will be discussed in the next cabinet meeting. He said Cabinet has also decided to convene a legislature session from May 22 to 24, and the Budget will be presented in July.
According to preliminary estimates, ₹50,000 crore is required annually to fulfill the 5-guarantees, he said. Chief Minister also added that information about Indira canteen is also being sought and they would be started soon.
The newly sworn-in CM said that during the previous term, "We had fulfilled 158 out of 165 promises made in the Election Manifesto. We have kept our promises. Along with fulfilling the promises, we have implemented more than 30 new schemes such as Indira Canteen, loan waiver, Vidya siri, Shoe Bhagya, Pashu Bhagya etc., which were not included in the manifesto."
"Opposition is misleading the people by stating that the Guarantee schemes we announced will make our state reel under huge debt and Prime Minister himself has stated in his Mann Ki Baat that the economy will collapse and State will incur huge debts by launching such schemes. But according to our calculations, ₹50,000 crore is required annually to implement these schemes and it is not impossible to mobilise resources," the CM said.
The State budget size is ₹3.10 lakh crore and it increases by around 10 per cent every year. "We will present a 3.25 lakh crore budget in July. We will mobilise the additional ₹15,000 crore by taking stringent measures to collect taxes," he said.
Siddaramaiah on Saturday took oath as the chief minister of Karnataka and DK Shivakumar as his Deputy chief minister.
Congress bagged 135 seats in the May 10 elections to the 224-member Karnataka Assembly ousting the ruling BJP, which got 66 seats while the Janata Dal (Secular) secured 19 seats in the results declared on May 13.
With agency inputs.
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