Bengaluru, Jun 2 (PTI) All eyes are on the Karnataka Cabinet meeting on Friday, which will decide on the fulfillment of the five guarantees promised by the ruling Congress during the assembly elections in May.

Congress said it will implement these schemes if it forms the government in Karnataka. The party won 135 out of 224 seats and entered Vidhana Souda with an absolute majority. Now, it is Congress’s turn to fulfill its promises, after building public confidence, the five guarantees promised by the Congress are 200 units of free electricity (Kriha Jyoti) to all households, Rs 2,000 as monthly assistance to the woman leader. Each family (Griha Lakshmi), 10 kg rice free for each member of BPL family (Anna Bhagya), Rs 3,000 every month for unemployed graduate youth and Rs 1,500 for unemployed diploma holders (both between 18-25 years) for two years (Yuva Nidhi), and public transport. Free travel for women in buses (Shakti).

The Congress government estimates that the implementation of these schemes will cost around Rs 50,000 crore every year.

“We have announced five guarantees. We discussed them in detail yesterday. Tomorrow, we will make a decision. We have promised to give 10 kg of rice. There is no second thought about implementing this, but I will explain it to you after the decision of the Cabinet,” Food and Civil Supplies Minister KH Muniyappa told reporters on Thursday.

Elaborating further, he said, “We will gradually implement the guarantees we promised.” He said the state government would request the central government and the Food Corporation of India (FCI) to supply rice to Karnataka regarding the Anna Bhagya scheme.

“If they (Centre and FCI) refuse, we will procure the rice through our own tender or companies and distribute it to the beneficiaries,” Muniyappa said.

During the election, Congress president and former party chief Rahul Gandhi had said that these schemes would be implemented on the day the government assumed charge.

However, after taking office on May 20, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said the government had agreed in principle to implement the assurances and sought time for the next cabinet meeting.

“We have given approval in principle. We will get the details, we will discuss, the financial implications will be explored and then we will definitely do it. Irrespective of the financial implications, we will implement these five guarantee schemes,” Siddaramaiah told reporters after the first cabinet meeting.

When asked when it would be implemented, he said, “Most likely after the next cabinet meeting,” he said, “The cabinet decision has already been taken. We need to work out the details like its financial implications. Asked why these aspects were not addressed before making the promises, the Chief Minister underlined, “The promises have been accepted. We won’t be going back. Siddaramaiah said that spending Rs 50,000 crore on these guarantees would not be a burden on the state, which has an annual budget of Rs 3 lakh crore.

The opposition BJP is also waiting with bated breath to see how the Congress implements these guarantees that will push the state into bankruptcy.

The BJP has alleged that the government has no intention of fulfilling its guarantees and is making false promises to come to power.

“They said they would implement it the day they came to power but they could not do it. This delay has proved that Congress is a party of cheats,” said BJP state president Nalin Kumar Katil.

According to some Congress leaders, certain conditions will be attached to these plans.

Gruha Lakshmi is for the below poverty line, which provides Rs 2,000 to heads of households. Anna Bhagya scheme which provides 10 kg of food grains is also for PPL families.

They said that the Kruha Jyoti scheme, which will provide 200 units of free electricity, will also be for the economically backward sections.

On the Shakti scheme, Congress leaders said no conditions would be attached, but it would specify which buses women could travel on for free.

According to an estimate prepared by the Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC), its operating cost is Rs. 12,000 crore, while its revenue is over Rs.9,000 crore. PTI GMS HDA