From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network
Bengaluru, May 19: Recognising the plight of the poorer sections, especially unorganized workers and those engaged in petty trades or operating auto rickshaw, cab, taxi drivers and artists and vegetable vendors as well as farmers, due to the lockdown restrictions following the surge in Covid Second Wave for almost a month, the B S Yediyurappa regime has announced a financial compensation package to the tune of Rs 1,111.82 crore.
Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa chaired a meeting with his cabinet colleagues and senior officials in the morning to finalize the compensation package and announced it as a measure of providing relief to a wide range of people severely impacted by the curfew restrictions to cover growers of fruits, vegetables and flowers, construction workers, vendors, auto rickshaw/taxi/cab drivers, artistes and below poverty line (BPL) families.
Financial relief of Rs 10,000 per hectare would be given to each of the growers of flowers, fruits and vegetables, which would cost the state exchequer Rs 82 crore.
Compensation of Rs 3,000 each would be given to auto rickshaw drivers, cab/taxi drivers involving a total of Rs 63 crore.
The Chief Minister said construction workers would be given Rs 3,000 each from the Karnataka Construction Welfare Board and this would cost Rs 494 crore.
Workers in the unorganized sectors such as tailors, saloon workers, pottery workers, hamalis, cobblers, domestic workers, goldsmiths, blacksmiths, mechanics etc., will be provided a compensation of Rs 2,000 each and about 3.5 lakh workers would benefit and the total outgo would be Rs 60.89 crore.
Street vendors selling fruits and vegetables would be paid Rs 2,000 each and it would cost Rs 45 crore to the state exchequer.
The Chief Minister said poor artistes numbering about 16,095 would be given compensation of Rs 3,000 involving a total of Rs 4.82 crore.
Yediyurappa said the State Government has extended the repayment of loans borrowed from agricultural cooperative banks to the tune of Rs 134.38 core for three months till July 31, 2021 and it would benefit 4.25 lakh farmers and self-help groups.
The Chief Minister said State Government has been providing 10 kg of rice for each member of BPL family free of cost per month and five kg of rice for APL family members at Rs 15 per kg. About 6 lakh people benefited from supplying food free of cost at Indira Canteens in Bengaluru and other parts of the State and the total compensation would be Rs 134.38 crore.
For management of the pandemic, he said each gram panchayat would be given Rs 50,000 each from the SDRF and about 6,000 GPs would benefit from this package.
The Chief Minister declared that LPG cylinder delivery persons, teachers and electricity linemen as frontline workers and would get vaccine on priority basis.
Despite severe financial constraints the government has announced the package for helping the people hit by the pandemic, the Chief Minister explained.
Decision on extending lockdown on May 23
The Chief Minister said the State Government would take a decision on whether to extend the lockdown on May 23 or not as the current restrictions are valid till May 24 morning 6 am.
The State Government has imposed lockdown from 9 pm on May 10 to 6 am on May 24. Only shops selling essential items are allowed to open from 6 am to 10 am during the lockdown.
Free Vax to all in 18 to 45 age group
Yediyurappa said the State Government has already provided treatment to the Covid infected people during the first and second waves of Covid infections covering 2.06 persons spending Rs 956 crore.
In addition, the State Government has planned to provide free vaccination to all persons above 18 to 45 years and has already placed orders for purchasing 3 crore doses of vaccines at a cost of Rs 1,000 crore.
