Karnataka govt to decide on revival of student polls in colleges this month: CM Shivakumar

Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Sunday said that a decision on holding student body elections in colleges across the state from this year would be taken at the next Cabinet meeting.

He also asserted that no one could stop the Congress government's five guarantee schemes — Shakti, Gruha Lakshmi, Gruha Jyoti, Yuva Nidhi and Anna Bhagya.

The CM made the remarks while addressing a mega convention in Bengaluru, where B K Hariprasad assumed charge as Karnataka Congress president.

"Myself, Hariprasad, Saleem Ahmed (MLC) and many others here have grown as student leaders. At the next Cabinet meeting, to be held later this month, the government will decide on conducting student elections in colleges across the state from this year itself," Shivakumar said.

"There is guidance from Rahul Gandhi for this. We want young leaders from the panchayat level to Parliament. We want student leaders," he added.

Student elections were banned in Karnataka in 1989 by the then Congress government led by Chief Minister Veerendra Patil, reportedly in response to a series of violent incidents and clashes on college campuses, as well as the growing influence of political parties in student politics.

Meanwhile, stating that the party had entrusted him with the responsibility of taking the state forward on the path of progress, the CM said, "We have implemented the five guarantee schemes, and no one can stop them. Nor will we discontinue them."

The remarks come amid the government's recent announcement that beneficiaries under the Gruha Lakshmi and Gruha Jyoti schemes would have to resubmit applications after authorities detected deceased and ineligible recipients in the beneficiary lists, leading to alleged misuse involving crores of rupees.

The government has announced a door-to-door survey to identify genuine beneficiaries and weed out ineligible claimants.

Gruha Jyoti provides up to 200 units of free electricity to households, while Gruha Lakshmi offers a monthly financial assistance of Rs 2,000 to the woman head of each family.

Noting that the state government had established guarantee scheme implementation committees comprising 15 party leaders and workers each at the district and taluk levels to ensure that the schemes reached intended beneficiaries efficiently, Shivakumar announced plans to constitute similar committees with five members each at the ward and panchayat levels.

"We have not been able to give positions to many party workers, but we have tried to empower them," he said.

"There are 15 members at the district and taluk levels. Now, I am making another announcement aimed at strengthening our party workers. After discussions with the leadership, we have decided to form guarantee implementation committees at every ward and panchayat, each consisting of five members. There are 7,000 panchayats and 4,000 wards. We are creating many leaders," he added.