How Siddaramaiah copied Modi Government schemes, repackaged them and showcased them as his flagship projects

It is not uncommon in Indian politics for a government to re-formulate and re-package social welfare schemes announced by the outgoing government, and brand them as their own. This almost always leads to claims and counter-claims. It is also not a rarity for state governments to rebrand the schemes announced by the centre or vice-versa. However, the present Karnataka government and the sitting Chief Minister Siddaramaiah seem to have stooped to a shameful new low. The Congress-led state government has now set a new benchmark in copying schemes by not only rebranding central schemes, but also taking credit for the benefits given under such schemes.

The Siddaramaiah government has rebranded in its own name four such flagship schemes of the Modi government, and has left no stone unturned to hide the Centre’s overwhelming role in the implementation of these schemes. One of these instances is the installation of Wi-Fi facilities under the central scheme ‘Bharat Net’.

The Union Telecommunication Secretary Aruna Sundararajan proposed to provide Wi-Fi in 2,000 villages in Karnataka with the support of the State Government, and in another 2,000 villages using Universal Service Obligation funds (USOFs) which are provided by the Centre. A couple of months later, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah announced that the Karnataka government will provide Wi-Fi access to all gram-panchayats in the state, starting with 2500 gram-panchayats this year. The scheme therefore was nothing but an identical copy of the Central scheme to provide Wi-Fi access to 20,000 villages.

Not only was the scheme copied but Siddaramaiah tried taking credit for the commendable extension of Wi-Fi facilities in gram-panchayats across the state of Karnataka. In fact, as per officials, around 90% of the gram panchayats where the Karnataka government provided Wi-Fi access were already covered by the ‘Bharat Net’ scheme. Therefore, the idea was to take political credit, while the infrastructure was built by the Centre and the execution was also carried out by the Centre. Moreover, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had accidentally admitted this while unveiling the BengaluruITE.biz expo on 28th November 2016. He had said, “We will bank on the national fibre optic network to provide last mile connectivity in all villages, as digital inclusion has become a parameter for growth and economic development.”

Another instance of imitation by the Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is the distribution of LED bulbs under the Hosa Belaku Scheme (an unmodified imitation of the Centre run Ujala scheme). The Ujala scheme, one of the flagship schemes announced by the Modi government with the object of providing efficient use of energy at a residential level, had proved to be an instant hit among people across the country. In Karnataka alone, close to 1.95 crore LED bulbs have been distributed till date. However, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah politicised even this noble initiative and delayed the implementation of the scheme almost by a year so, and then brought about the Hosa Belaku scheme for the state. The welfare of the state and residents was forgone for political gains. Siddaramaih as usual is trying to take credit for distribution of LED bulbs, however in reality, Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) which comes under the Union Ministry of Power is executing the Hosa Belaku scheme in Karnataka.

By sources