No caste, religion barriers for guarantee schemes: Min

MANGALURU: The very uniqueness of the five guarantee schemes introduced by the Congress government is that caste, religion and languages are not barriers for the beneficiaries, said minister for health and family welfare Dinesh Gundu Rao.
He was addressing the gathering at the launch of the Shakti scheme that offers free travel for women in KSRTC buses, at the KSRTC bus stand here on Sunday. “All people cutting across castes, religions and linguistic groups are eligible to avail the benefits of the five guarantee schemes. We are not in favour of any religion or caste. Overall development of the state is the main agenda of the government,” he said.
“The sole purpose of launching the Shakti scheme is to empower women. They may commute free in KSRTC buses to their far away workplaces without thinking about the expenses. The scheme also fulfils one of the major demands of women to visit temples,” he said and opined that more women should enter the state legislatures and the Lok Sabha.
“Many spread misinformation alleging the Congress of making false promises through the guarantee schemes to garner votes. However, it is a historic political development that the government led by Siddaramaiah has approved all the five guarantee schemes in the very first cabinet meeting itself. Siddaramaiah had taken such historic decisions by introducing the Anna Bhagya scheme and loan waiver on the first day of his tenure as the chief minister earlier,” Rao said.
Women can avail free travel on 644 buses
Rajesh Shetty, divisional controller, KSRTC, Mangaluru, said that women may avail the benefit of Shakti Scheme in 644 buses that operate 3,211 trips in the Mangaluru, Udupi, Kundapur in Mangaluru division, Puttur, Dharmastala, BC Road and Sullia units in Puttur division of the corporation. “In addition to the buses from Mangaluru and Puttur divisions, women may also travel free in 301 trips of NWKRTC and KKRTC that operate from Mangaluru,” he said.
Women may produce Aadhaar card, voter ID card, driving license, ID cards issued by the state/central governments, PSUs, or the ID cards issued by the department of empowerment of differently-abled and senior citizens to avail the benefit, he said.
BJP MLA abstains from inaugural event
BJP MLA from Mangaluru City South D Vedavyas Kamath, who was scheduled to chair the launch of Shakti scheme, remained absent. Responding to it, minister Rao said that the MLA might have avoided the programme as he has to praise the government for introducing a pro-people scheme.