Rahul Gandhi Promises Rs 10 Lakh Insurance and Interest-Free Loan for Fishermen
Udupi: If the Congress party comes to power in the state, we ensure Rs 10 lakh insurance cover to the fishermen community said Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.
He was addressing the fishermen community at Uchilla Mahalaxmi Temple Auditorium on April 27. Once the Congress comes to power, we will give Rs 10 lakh insurance cover to fishermen, Rs one lakh interest-free loan to fisherwomen and a subsidy of Rs 25 per litre of diesel up to 500 litres diesel a day. I can assure you that the Congress govt will be very sensitive to the needs of the fishermen and we will make sure that your interests are protected.
Expressing confidence that the Congress will come to power in Karnataka, Gandhi said that the new government would formally approve its poll promises in the first cabinet meeting itself.
Among the poll “guarantees” announced by the Congress are ‘Gruha Jyothi’ to provide 200 units of free electricity to all every month, ‘Gruha Lakshmi’ to provide monthly financial assistance of Rs 2,000 to every woman head of the family, ‘Anna Bhagya’ offering 10 kg of rice monthly to each member of the BPL family and ‘Yuva Nidhi’ to give Rs 3,000 per month to unemployed graduates and Rs 1,500 per month to diploma holders for two years. These schemes will be implemented on the first day in the first cabinet meeting itself, Gandhi said.
“I am happy that Congress is fighting the elections unitedly. We will form the government. However, BJP will try to use ‘40% commission’ money to destabilise the government. This is the money that was stolen from you (public). They will use your money to destabilise the government voted by you. The Present BJP government in the state was not one elected by the people and crores of rupees were spent by that party to purchase MLAs. The government is not elected by you but was bought by BJP with money and power. Even BJP MLAs are now saying that the chief minister’s post is for sale for Rs 2500 crore, he said.
Those who are ruling here are not patriots, they are the 40 percent commission thieves. In Karnataka, an association wrote to the PM that theft of 40 percent commission isin practice. But PM Modi did not do anything about it. 40 percent commission was taken from the association of 13,000 schools. Neither PM nor the CM did anything about it,” he said, alleging that Karnataka was witnessing a “scam” in recruitments to police and the Karnataka Public Service Commission, but “no action was taken as all the money was going to one person.
The Fishermen community is stuck between poverty and inflation. “The fish population is decreasing and the operational cost is rising, resulting in the hike in fish prices. We want to offer you some help because we know you are in difficult circumstances,” he said.
Gandhi interacted with the fishermen, asking them what their concerns were and what they would want out of the new Congress regime. In response to a query, he promised that 80% of the fishing activities would go back to fishermen’s hands as it was during Siddaramaiah’s time.
The Congress government will be pro-poor, pro-farmers and pro-labour. While the Modi government has been pandering to businessmen, the Congress will allow access to banks for the poor, women, youth and farmers, he said.
Kaup Congress candidate Vinay Kumar Sorake, Udupi Congress candidate Prasad Raj Kanchan, AICC secretary Venugopal, Leader of Opposition in Council B K Hariprasad, Former Chief Minister Veerappa Moyli, Congress district President Ashok Kumar Kodavoor, Congress leaders Prathapchandra Shetty, Naveenchandra Suvarna, M A Gafoor, Deviprasad Shetty, Veronica Corenelio, Geetha Wagle, Vishwas Ameen, and others were present.
