In a bid to fulfil its poll promise, the Siddaramaiah-led Karnataka government will launch a scheme offering Rs 2,000 monthly financial assistance to over one crore women on Wednesday (August 30) in presence of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and party leader Rahul Gandhi, officials said.
Nearly 1.08 crore potential beneficiaries have enrolled for the 'Gruha Lakshmi' scheme, which was among the five pre-poll guarantees of the Congress in the run-up to the Assembly elections this year.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said while talking to the media today that close to 1 lakh people would assemble at the function. He said that Kharge would launch the scheme and he would preside over the event in which Rahul Gandhi will be present.
He said it's a government function and added that Kharge and Gandhi would attend the event in their capacity as Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, and as member of the Parliament, respectively. "It's not a party function".
The chief minister said the government has already implemented three of the five 'guarantees' - 'Shakti', 'Gruha Jyothi', and 'Annabhagya' -- and noted that 'Gruha Lakshmi' is the fourth one.
Siddaramaiah said last week that the government would directly transfer Rs 2,000 a month to the bank accounts of the enrolled 1.08 crore women.
The government has earmarked Rs 17,500 crore for the 'Gruha Lakshmi' programme in the current financial year, he had said.
(With PTI inputs)
