Bengaluru, 5 Nov 

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday urged the Centre to recognise the "Guarantee Model of Karnataka" and provide greater fiscal support and the rightful share of revenues to empower States to innovate and invest in their people. He was speaking at an event organised by the Fiscal Policy Institute here.

"Our goal is to ensure that the Guarantee Model of Karnataka becomes a national template for inclusive development, one that bridges regional and social inequalities and strengthens the spirit of cooperative federalism," he said.

The Congress government's five guarantee schemes are —200 units of free power to all households (Gruha Jyoti), Rs 2,000 monthly assistance to the woman head of every family (Gruha Lakshmi), the additional 5 kg of rice to every member of a BPL household (Anna Bhagya), Rs 3,000 every month for unemployed graduate youth and Rs 1,500 for diploma holders for two years (Yuva Nidhi), and free travel for women in public transport buses (Shakti).

"The guarantee schemes were not populist giveaways, but policy correctives and instruments of redistributive justice and inclusive growth in an era where the so-called 'trickle-down theory' has failed to reach the poor," he said.

"We call upon the union government to recognise this model and to provide greater fiscal support and a rightful share of revenues to empower states to innovate and invest in their people," the CM said.

He also dismissed claims that the schemes were a burden to the State, noting that Karnataka now had the highest per capita income in the country.