CM Yediyurappa announces scheme that will benefit about 30,000 households
Karnataka will pay a compensation of Rs 1 lakh to BPL families who have lost their breadwinners to Covid-19, Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa said, according to media reports.
Speaking to news reporters in Bengaluru on Monday, June 14, 2021, Yediyurappa said the government had decided to pay the compensation in order to provide succour to many families who were in distress because of the pandemic. In many cases, families have lost their only breadwinners, he added.
The scheme, which the chief minister described as the first in India, would cost the Karnataka government Rs 200 to Rs 300 crore, and 25,000 to 30,000 families are expected to benefit from it, he added, according to reports.
While the government’s announcement needs to be welcomed, it should be kept in mind that there is a huge deficiency in the implementation of such schemes. Similar schemes announced by the government earlier haven’t been implemented properly because of red tape.
For example, a scheme to provide cash assistance of up to Rs 3,000 to street vendors has been limited to BPL card holders and only one member of a family. The cash assistance for the kin of Covid-19 victims has similar conditions. It needs to be seen what more conditions the Finance Department puts once the scheme is formally launched.
