2024 Poll Ploy? Karnataka Cong Starts ‘Promised’ Job Scheme for Youth After Delay Buzz; How to Apply

The fifth and final promise by the Congress during the assembly elections in May, which brought them to power in Karnataka, Yuva Nidhi scheme, is now open for registrations. But the launch of this scheme was not devoid of political grandstanding as Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, questioning whether he is an economist.

“Under the Yuva Nidhi scheme, money will be directly deposited into the bank accounts of the beneficiaries. You (PM Modi) failed to keep up your word. Have you created two crore jobs a year as promised to the people of this country?” the Karnataka CM questioned.

PM Modi, while campaigning in the states that went to election recently, had criticised the Congress’ “new formula of guarantees”. “Are they fulfilling their guarantees? Their guarantees will leave the country bankrupt,” Modi had said.

Siddaramaiah took on the PM while speaking at the inaugural programme to open registrations for Yuva Nidhi, wondering whether the PM was an economist at all. The chief minister stated that PM Modi had said Karnataka will go bankrupt if the five guarantees are implemented.

“The reality is that the state has grown financially stronger now with the implementation of five guarantees,” said Siddaramaiah.

Yuva Nidhi, Congress’ last poll guarantee, includes providing monetary assistance of Rs 3,000 on monthly basis to unemployed graduates and Rs 1,500 to the diploma holders of the state who passed in the 2022-23 academic year.

The official disbursal of the amount to the beneficiaries is to be launched on January 12, which is also celebrated as National Youth Day marking the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda. An allotment of Rs 250 crore has been set aside by the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government for this scheme for this year.

According to Karnataka Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Minister Sharan Prakash Patil, an expenditure of Rs 1,250 crore is anticipated in the next year, and the state may incur a spending of approximately Rs 2,500 crore in the following years based on the registrations.

The youth beneficiary will get the promised amount directly into their accounts, and money would also be given to those who do not get a job even after the completion of 180 days from the date of passing of the degree/diploma, explained an official from the skill development ministry in Karnataka.

The government plans to give free training to the unemployed youth and also tap the database to fill in the vacant jobs existing in the state government, added Siddaramaiah.

A senior minister working closely on the scheme told News18 that the magnitude of beneficiaries will be huge and the government wanted to ensure that those who are eligible are able to get the benefit seamlessly while ensuring there was no leakage of funds in case of ineligible or false claimants.

“We have been given to understand that around 6 lakh youth have passed out of their graduation courses between the academic year 2022-2023. We had to wait for a few months to find out which of those graduates were unable to get a job,” explained the minister.

The minister denied speculations about the delay in launching the Yuva Nidhi scheme due to financial constraints.

“There is absolutely no delay. We had to wait to get the numbers and details of those youth who graduated in June this year but have not been able to get a job until December. Once we had enough data, we launched the registrations. The youth will be the ones who will be eligible for the scheme. They will get financial assistance for a period of two years within which we expect them to find employment,” explained the leader.

On a question whether those who have graduated before 2022 will be eligible to apply for the scheme, deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar had earlier clarified to News18 that since the Congress government came to power this May, the scheme will be applicable from this year.

“It is the promise made by the Congress government for the people. We assumed power a few months ago, so any graduate belonging to the academic year 2022-23 and who has passed their graduation/diploma in 2023 will be eligible,” explained Shivakumar.

According to the government’s eligibility criteria for Yuva Nidhi, the candidates should have a domicile in Karnataka during graduation and diploma for a minimum of six years. It is learnt that 5.3 lakh youth, who have passed out during the academic year 2022-2023 (that means those who graduated in June and have not found jobs until December), have been identified as eligible beneficiaries under this scheme. The financial assistance will be given for a period of two years only.

“By that time we expect the youth to find a job and allow another worthy candidate to take benefit of this scheme. Those who are pursuing higher education are not eligible,” said Karnataka Youth Congress president Mohammed Haris Nalapad.

Nalapad said the financial assistance that is being given is a “stopgap” and should not be considered as an “end goal” by the youth. “The youth should attempt to get a job within six months to a year’s time,” he added.

A young person’s family supports their children till they get the degree, but once they pass that stage or any other higher qualification, it is the duty of the youth to support their parents, the minister stressed.

“Not finding a job despite being a graduate makes the youth feel like a burden on their parents. This also affects the morale, self-efficiency of the youth. So, the Congress wants to make sure that they do not lose hope nor are financially fine till they get a fitting job,” the youth president said.

How does one apply? Eligible candidates can freely enrol by logging on to the ‘Sevasindhu portal’ (http://sevasindhugs.karnataka.gov.in). They can also use ‘Karnataka One’, ‘Bengaluru One’, ‘Grama One’, and ‘Bapuji Seva Kendra’ to upload their documents.

Political analyst SA Hemanth questions the timing of the announcement of Yuva Nidhi. “This seems to be a clever way of attracting votes in their favour just before the Lok Sabha elections using government money. The Congress used to find itself in an embarrassing position each time the BJP asked about the delay in implementing the youth scheme promise,” Hemanth said.

He further said the Congress hopes to project that the unemployment rate under the Modi government has gone up and the promises made by him, including special schemes for women and minorities, have not been fulfilled, but the Siddaramaiah government is able to do so effectively.

“Siddaramaiah is trying to portray that his government is pro-youth, pro-women, and pro-farmers, while Modi is everything anti. This move by the Congress is nothing but political posturing and a total eyewash,” Hemanth adds.