Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah slams those criticising guarantees, says such policies are empowering people
Speaking at the 300th birth anniversary of Lokmata Devi Ahilya Bai Holkar in Bengaluru, Siddaramaiah said that the government's welfare schemes do not make people lazy, instead, they empower them. Siddaramaiah said that whenever he was in power, he had been making efforts to ensure social equality, social justice, and empower oppressed communities.
Responding to criticism that guarantee schemes are making people lazy, the CM said, 'I don't know if they understand it or speak for political reasons....'
Siddaramaiah said the Anna Bhagya scheme was introduced based on what he saw in his village when he was a child. He also shared his experience during the college days in Mysuru when his father was giving him Rs 100 per month. Based on that experience, a scheme to provide Rs 1,500 per month to students was started, he said. 'Will children become lazy if we provide them financial assistance?' he questioned.
Siddaramaiah said they are giving financial assistance to women heads of households to empower them. The CM questioned how people will become lazy if the government provides free bus service or free electricity?
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
News18
15 minutes ago
- News18
Karnatakas new caste census from Sept 22
Agency: PTI Bengaluru, Jul 23 (PTI) The Karnataka government will conduct a new 'Social and Educational survey', popularly known as 'caste census", in the state for 15 days, from September 22 to October 7, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said on Wednesday. The Karnataka State Backward Classes Commission is tasked with submitting the report by the end of October, which will shape the state's next budget. A preliminary meeting on the social and educational survey was held on Wednesday under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. 'The Backward Classes Commission has submitted a proposal to the government to conduct a social and educational survey. Accordingly, a survey of all 7 crore people in the state will be conducted. The main objective of the census is to eliminate caste discrimination," the CM was quoted as saying by his office in a statement. The survey also aims to gather comprehensive data on the financial status and land ownership. Siddaramaiah said. 'This time, the survey should be a model survey in the country." 'It has been decided to conduct the survey for 15 days from September 22 to October 7. The survey report should be submitted by the end of October. Instructions have been given to start preliminary preparations for the survey, including training from now itself," he added. On June 12, the Karnataka cabinet had decided to conduct a fresh social and educational survey (caste census), effectively binning the one done in 2015 at a cost of about Rs 165 crore, citing legalese. The cabinet had cited Section 11(1) of the Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes Act 1995, which mandates a revision of the state backward classes list once in 10 years. The cabinet's decision to conduct a fresh survey follows directives from the top brass of Congress — President Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi — to hold caste re-enumeration in Karnataka to address the concerns of some communities, who were excluded in the survey conducted 10 years ago. At the meeting today, Siddaramaiah emphasised that precautions would be taken to avoid any complaints about the survey and ensured that no one is left out of the exercise. 'The Kantharaju Commission had previously conducted the survey manually by preparing 54 questions. This time, more elements will be included in the survey. This time, the survey will be conducted using a mobile app," he said. Instructions have been given to study the social and educational census conducted in neighbouring Telangana, and it has also been decided to form a high-level committee to oversee the survey work. The CM stressed the need for a scientific and transparent approach, with assistance from an expert committee to finalise the questions to be asked in the survey. Pointing out that human resources, including 1.65 lakh enumerators, are required for the survey work, Siddaramaiah said along with the services of teachers, staff from other departments will also be used for the fresh survey. The CM asked all the departments concerned to work in coordination and make the survey a success. Backward Classes Welfare Minister Shivaraj Thangadgi, Chairman of the State Backward Classes Commission Madhusudan R Naik, Chief Secretary to the Government Shalini Rajneesh , Chief Minister's Legal Advisor and MLA Ponnanna, and senior officials attended the meeting. Various communities, especially Karnataka's two dominant ones — Vokkaligas and Veershaiva-Lingayats — had expressed strong reservations about the caste survey that was done in 2015, calling it 'unscientific", and had demand that it be rejected, and a fresh survey be conducted. There are also strong voices against it from within the ruling Congress. PTI KSU ROH view comments First Published: Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
The Hindu
35 minutes ago
- The Hindu
Fresh Karnataka caste survey to begin on September 22
The second Socio-Economic and Educational Survey (popularly called caste census) by the Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes will be conducted from September 22 to October 7. The commission has been told to submit the final report with recommendations before the end of October. The commission has been told to study a similar survey conducted by the Telengana government. This comes amidst some misgivings expressed by experts over the conduct of a fresh survey of the entire population in a short time frame. Survey to cover 7 crore population of Karnataka The survey of the seven crore population of Karnataka will be done by 1.65 lakh enumerators over 15 days. Apart from teachers, employees from various departments of the government would be roped in for the exercise this time. The second survey comes after the government decided to keep aside the first survey conducted in 2015 by the commission headed by H. Kantharaj, the report of which was submitted by the commission headed by K. Jayaprakash Hegde in 2024. Following pressure from land-owning and politically dominant Vokkaligas and Veerashaiva-Lingayats, the government shied away from accepting the report and implementing its recommendations, but the official reason cited was that the survey is based on decade-old data, and a fresh survey was necessary. 'The commission has submitted a proposal to the government to conduct the survey. Addressing discrimination of castes is the main focus of the survey, which should become a model for the country,' Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said after chairing a meeting on July 23 to discuss modalities of the survey. The survey, he said, would be the basis for preparation of the next budget, and that the comprehensive survey would include economic conditions, including land and property holdings, of every person in Karnataka. 'The commission has been told to submit the report before October-end.' He said that precautions should be taken to prevent any scope for complaints. 'Survey work should be transparent, and efforts should be made to ensure that no one is excluded.' The commission should start training and other preparatory work, he added. Will use an app Mr. Siddaramaiah said that the survey would be conducted using an app while the previous survey by the Kantharaj Commission was done manually. 'The previous survey had 54 questions for respondents. We will have more questions this time. A technical committee will be set up to finalise the questions. The survey should be scientific and transparent.' He has directed the commission to have a high-power committee to monitor the survey work in Bengaluru where the previous survey lagged due to non-cooperation of people, and lack of manpower, among other reasons. Backward Classes Minister Shivaraj Tangadagi, Commission Chairperson Madhusudan R. Naik and Chief Secretary Shalini Rajaneesh were among those present in the meeting.
Hindustan Times
2 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
Over 1,000 dead in rains till July 16; Andhra logs most monsoon deaths
The country recorded a total of 1,297 deaths due to intense rainfall between April 1 and July 16 this year, with the highest number of deaths in Andhra Pradesh at a toll of 258, followed by 171 deaths in Himachal Pradesh, 148 in Madhya Pradesh, and 101 in Bihar, ministry of home affairs informed the Lok Sabha on Tuesday. Andhra Pradesh has been hit the hardest this monsoon season.(PTI File) It added a total of 51,699 cattle were lost, 92,663 houses damaged and 154,394.27 ha cropped area affected during the period. Minister of state for home Nityanand Rai, responding to questions by BJP MPs Sudheer Gupta and Manish Jaiswal and Shiv Sena MPs Dhairyasheel Sambhajirao Mane and Ravindra Vasantrao Chavan Patil, said, 'An Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT) has been constituted for Himachal Pradesh, without waiting for the memorandum, to visit the affected areas of the State for assessment of damages caused by the flash flood/ floods, cloudburst and landslides.' The MPs asked about the loss of property and human life due to heavy rainfall, the total human casualties and property losses across various states, and whether the government has constituted any central team to visit the affected areas. 'Due to highly favourable synoptic systems and monsoonal winds, central and western parts of India, have experienced heavy rainfall spells, leading to excess to large excess rainfall over these areas, due to which early flood incidents have also been reported,' a written response said, adding the ministry does not centrally maintain the data of damages. The ministry said Himachal Pradesh recorded a loss of 23,818 cattle and 1,528 homes, and there were 325 cattle deaths in Madhya Pradesh along with damage to 986 homes. Assam recorded highest damage to cropped area covering 29,714.89 ha. It added that during the current financial year (as on 15th July, 2025), the Central Government has released a central share of ₹9578.4 crore to 22 states under State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) to support the affected people. 'The financial assistance under SDRF/ NDRF in the wake of natural disasters is by way of relief and not for compensation of loss as suffered/ claimed. As per the National Policy on Disaster Management, the primary responsibility for disaster management rests with the State Governments concerned. However, financial assistance to notified calamities is provided from SDRF/ NDRF as per established procedure. The State Government concerned is required to undertake necessary relief measures in the landslides affected areas out of the SDRF, already placed with the State Government, as per Government of India norms,' Centre added.
