Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said the Government has given a preferential treatment to AHINDA (Kannada acronym for minorities, backward classes and Dalits) communities to ensure inclusive growth.
Mr. Siddaramaiah, who completed two years in office on Wednesday, said “preferential treatment is given to AHINDA to ensure social justice to the poor people by focusing more on social welfare schemes. I am not ashamed of it”.
The Chief Minister, who held several AHINDA conventions before joining the Congress in 2006, said under the Constitution, it was the responsibility of the State government to safeguard the interest of the poor people who belonged to scheduled caste/tribe and minority communities. Allocation has been increased to the social sector without neglecting the economic sector, he said.
Speaking at the press meet organised by the Press Club of Bangalore and Bangalore Reporters’ Guild, he dismissed a charge that the Government had protected interests of only AHINDA communities. Listing out achievements, he said about 21 lakh farmers availed interest free crop loans from cooperatives last year while 1.08 crore BPL families have been availing subsidised rations. Drip irrigation subsidy, incentive of Rs four per litre of milk and health insurance scheme were implemented. All categories of households benefited. “Are AHINDA communities only benefitted under these schemes,” he asked.
Noting that allocation for Scheduled Castes Sub-Plan and Tribal Sub-Plan has been increased to Rs. 16,300 crore in 2015-16, he said funds under the Act cannot be utilised for the benefit of other caste and communities.
Unlike the previous BJP government, the Congress government headed by him remained “scandal free”. “I am satisfied with the performance of my government so far”.
“We have not worked against the expectations of the people”. But the Opposition parties propagate lies, he said and cited the example of death of a girl in Thirthahalli in Shivamogga. The Opposition claimed that the girl was raped and murdered. But a probe revealed that the girl had committed suicide, Mr. Siddaramaiah said.
“We are not after publicity of welfare schemes,” he said adding that Rs. one lakh crore was required to complete pending irrigation projects against the earlier estimation of Rs. 50,000 crore.
