Karnataka has spent ₹1.85 lakh crore on its five guarantee schemes, accounting for 12% of the state budget, H.M. Revanna, chairperson of the Karnataka Guarantee Schemes Implementation Authority, said at a meeting in Mysuru on Wednesday.
Revanna was speaking at the Zilla Panchayat hall during a meeting on forming guarantee scheme implementation committees at gram panchayat and ward levels. He said financial assistance under the schemes was reaching eligible beneficiaries directly, without intermediaries or the need to pay bribes.
According to Revanna, eligible beneficiaries across communities and religions were receiving the benefits. Each family was receiving between ₹5,000 and ₹6,000, he said. The statement did not provide a scheme-wise break-up of the ₹1.85 lakh crore expenditure or specify the period covered by the figure.
Revanna also said the schemes had faced criticism at the beginning but claimed that the focus had now shifted to their achievements. He cited the Gruha Lakshmi scheme as a measure that had helped strengthen women’s financial position, referring to views expressed by several economic advisers. The meeting did not include supporting data or an independent assessment of the scheme’s impact.
The state is required to form six-member guarantee scheme implementation committees at gram panchayat and ward levels, with two women members in each committee. Revanna instructed taluk-level guarantee scheme chairpersons to speed up the process.
Pushpa Amarnath, vice-chairperson of the district guarantee scheme committee, said committees at ward and gram panchayat levels in the district would be formed within two days and their details sent to the state-level authority. The meeting also discussed access to welfare-linked documentation. District committee vice-chairperson Shivakumar urged the Food Department to prioritise issuing Below Poverty Line cards to families facing serious illness.
Committee member S.M. Yogesh called for wider publicity programmes to explain the usefulness of the guarantee schemes. The meeting was attended by district committee chairperson S. Arun Kumar, Mysuru City Corporation guarantee scheme committee chairperson Pushpavalli, district authority vice-chairperson Hunasuru Basavanna and Zilla Panchayat deputy secretary Savitha. The immediate administrative milestone is the submission of ward- and gram panchayat-level committee lists to the state authority within two days.
