Karnataka Assembly Elections: JDS manifesto keeps freebies out, promises a lot for women

The party has instead focussed on measures such as 50% rebate on registration of land in the name of women, a monthly living assistance of Rs 2,000 for poor women, farm loan waivers, and introduction of English as a medium of instruction in government schools.

Former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda.

Unlike the two major national parties — the Congress and the BJP — the regional Janata Dal (Secular) has not resorted to freebies like smartphones for youths and women to attract voters in the 2018 assembly polls in Karnataka. The party has instead focussed on measures such as 50% rebate on registration of land in the name of women, a monthly living assistance of Rs 2,000 for poor women, farm loan waivers, and introduction of English as a medium of instruction in government schools.

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“Our manifesto has focused on the overall development of Karnataka and it’s people, much more than the manifestos of the two national parties,” JDS state president and former Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy said Monday after releasing the manifesto.

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Like the BJP, the JDS has also promised loan waivers to farmers. However, the latter intends to waive all loans to farmers, artisans, and weavers, while the BJP has promised to waive farm loans up to Rs 1 lakh taken from nationalized banks. “All agricultural loans… will be waived off on a one-time basis,’” the manifesto says. Among the innovative social measures proposed by the party in its manifesto is a monthly living assistance of Rs 2,000 for every woman above 24 years, who has lived in Karnataka for 10 years, and does not have an income above Rs 5,000 per month and does not own more than five acres of land.

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The manifesto also promises assistance of Rs 6,000 per month to pregnant women for three months before delivery and 3 months after delivery. The party has also proposed a hostel for women in distress in every taluka in the state. Like other parties, it has promised free sanitary napkins to girls in rural schools.