It is evident that the Bhagya series of welfare schemes have helped chief minister Siddaramaiah and the Congress party to strike a meaningful chord with the rural electorate in Karnataka. A chunky population of some 4 crore, of the total electorate of 5.2 crore, is the direct beneficiary of these schemes. The government has been spending more than 40 per cent of its annual budgetary allocation to fund these programmes.

‘Siddaramaiah Sarkar’ with its punch-line “inclusive development and social justice” has been able to reach out to almost all the needy, poor, labourers, tribal people, other economically backward communities, farmers, women, students and infants in over 10,000 villages across the state.

Strong wicket

“The sheer magnitude and the last-mile reach of these schemes indeed place Siddaramaiah on a strong wicket. No doubt, the government could appease a sizeable vote bank through these schemes. So the welfare programmes appear to be the centrepiece of the Congress party’s communication strategy in this election,” conceded a senior party worker of the BJP.

The ‘Sada Sidda Sarkara’, (government that is ever ready) launched the following welfare schemes under Bhagya – Ksheera Bhagya (milk), Anna Bhagya (food), Krishi Bhagya (farming), Pashu Bhagya (cattle), Arogya Bhagya (health), Indira Vastra Bhagya (cloth), Anila Bhagya (LPG connection), Shaadi Bhagya, Cycle Bhagya, Laptop Bhagya and Text Book Bhagya.

Srivatsa YB, social media head of the Congress in Karnataka said, “Our government has worked for everyone. We have done more for certain classes of people, who are needy and more deserving, and incidentally they form the majority of our voters. Ours is a government that strongly believes in inclusive development and social justice. All our social development programmes are designed keeping this in mind. We have successfully reached out to close to 4 crore deserving people who live in villages and tiny hamlets including the ones in the remotest parts of the state. This is the Karnataka Model, something that is worth replicating across the country, and believe me this is not the Gujarat Model which will relate only to the select and exclusive.”

According to BS Murthy, an independent political observer in the city, “The Bhagya programmes have been a boon to women and children of the state. Daily 150 ml of cream milk and eggs for each school student has been a godsend in child nutrition. Pashu Bhagya and many other schemes ensured that the rural economy stayed float as women get more money in their hands. Milk is distributed through Ksheera Bhagya with the state whipping up a mega white revolution.”

The Ksheera Bhagya and Pashu Bhagya programmes are interconnected. The Indira Vastra Bhagya is another important scheme, aimed at BPL families, also designed to benefit hundreds of thousands of weavers and others working in the state’s handloom sector. The state government has been procuring millions of handloom saris and dhotis from these weavers to run its Vastra Bhagya scheme.

Ambitious plan

On his first day as chief minister of Karnataka, Siddaramaiah had announced Anna Bhagya, an ambitious plan to make the state poverty free. Siddaramaiah, who claims to be a firm believer in the principles of Ambedkar, Mahatma Gandhi and philosopher Basavanna, had experienced poverty and hunger while growing up in a rural Kuruba (shepherd) family off Mysore. Rice was expensive and weaker sections cooked it only during festivals. Village life is not so drastically different even today, observes Anjana KS, a grass roots social worker based in Shimoga, who represents an NGO.

Commenting on Karnataka’s own white revolution, Ksheera Bhagya, the chief minister had said that millions of children, their parents and their teachers were fond of this programme as it was an incentive for many rural schoolchildren. Their families were happy that their children were getting milk daily in school and teachers believed the scheme helped to significantly reduce the dropout rate.

“Providing milk five times a week will help tackle malnutrition in the state to a large extent. Ksheera Bhagya has also given a big boost to our dairy farmers as we buy all the milk they produce for nearby schools,” said Siddaramaiah.

“Milk was never so tasty before,” said a class 1X student of Government High School, Tandavapura, Nanjangud taluk, Mysore, who is featured on the state website, nammasarkara.in.

The Rs 1,500 crore Krishi Bhagya scheme, that aims at efficient management of rainwater to improve agricultural productivity, has been positively received by farmers. Over 60 per cent of food grains and 75 per cent of oil seeds grown in the state are produced on unirrigated lands. Prior to this project, lack of rain had caused huge losses to farmers.

The sanitation scheme, Nirmala Bhagya, helped Karnataka to declare over 10,000 villages open-defecation free. Now the big question is: will these schemes targeted at the poor and needy in the state take Siddaramaiah and his team back to Vidhana Soudha?

It is clear that the Congress is betting big on bhagya (good fortune), but will bhagya live up to its name and bring votes for Congress? That will be known on May 15. Not just these schemes, the outcome of the assembly election will be a verdict on the incumbent government’s full-term contribution to the state.