Siddaramaiah Urges Centre to Recognise Karnataka’s ‘Guarantee Model’, Seeks Fair Share of Revenues

Bengaluru: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday appealed to the Union government to officially recognise Karnataka’s “Guarantee Model” of welfare governance and extend greater fiscal support to the state.

Speaking at an event organised by the Fiscal Policy Institute in Bengaluru, the Chief Minister said Karnataka’s approach could serve as a national model for inclusive development that reduces inequality and strengthens cooperative federalism.

“The Guarantee Model of Karnataka should become a national template for inclusive growth, one that bridges regional and social divides,” Siddaramaiah said.

The Congress government’s five major “guarantee” schemes include:

• Gruha Jyoti: 200 units of free electricity for every household.
• Gruha Lakshmi: ₹2,000 monthly support for the woman head of every family.
• Anna Bhagya: Additional 5 kg of rice per person for families below the poverty line.
• Yuva Nidhi: ₹3,000 per month for unemployed graduates and ₹1,500 for diploma holders for two years.
• Shakti: Free bus travel for women across the state.

Defending these initiatives, Siddaramaiah said they were not populist handouts but measures aimed at correcting policy imbalances and promoting equitable growth. “These schemes are policy correctives and instruments of redistributive justice at a time when the so-called trickle-down theory has failed the poor,” he noted.

According to the Chief Minister, the state has allocated over ₹96,000 crore so far for the implementation of these programmes. In the 2025–26 budget, ₹51,034 crore has been earmarked for them — with 56% going to Gruha Lakshmi, nearly 20% to Gruha Jyoti, and the rest distributed among Anna Bhagya, Shakti, and Yuva Nidhi.

Currently, over 1.24 crore women benefit from Gruha Lakshmi, 1.63 crore households from Gruha Jyoti, 4.08 crore people from Anna Bhagya, and 2.84 lakh youth receive support under Yuva Nidhi. Women also account for more than 63% of passengers using the free travel scheme, with over 580 crore bus trips recorded under Shakti.

Siddaramaiah argued that the schemes have boosted local consumption and reduced rural unemployment without straining the economy. “These programmes have neither burdened the exchequer nor fuelled inflation. Instead, they have increased demand and strengthened revenue growth,” he said, describing the model as a step toward a Universal Basic Income framework.

He highlighted that Karnataka now ranks first in India in per capita income, which has doubled from ₹1,01,858 in 2013–14 to ₹2,04,605 in 2024–25. “This shows that growth and social justice can go hand in hand,” he added.

The Chief Minister also criticised the Centre for what he called “financial injustice” towards Karnataka. He alleged that the state has been denied over ₹2 lakh crore in dues and around ₹25,000 crore each year. “Despite contributing significantly to the national economy, our rightful share of funds and approvals are being withheld,” he said.

Siddaramaiah concluded by saying that true fiscal responsibility lies not in cutting spending, but in investing wisely in citizens. “When we first launched these schemes, opponents called them freebies. But today, many states are following the same path,” he remarked.