Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday said that a “fearful atmosphere” was created for Dalits, the poor, backwards, and minorities in the state, but his government will create a sense of security among these people and this work has already begun.

“As soon as our government came to power, I have given strict instructions to the police officers to take decisive action against those who create an atmosphere of fear in the society and disrupt harmony through social media. Moral policing will not be allowed in the state anymore,” he said while interacting with representatives of the Eddelu Karnataka organisation.

“Our government will work as per the expectations of the people. We will require Rs 59,000 crore annually to implement the five guarantees promised during the election. The financial requirement is Rs 41,000 crore for the remaining months of the current year,” he said.

Siddaramaiah said that the government will review the National Education Policy and repeal many anti-people laws along with implementing the new policy.

More than 30 representatives of various organisations including K.M.Ramachandrappa, Noor Sridhar, Vijayamma, Mallige, J.S.Patil, Yusuf Khanni, and Tara Rao of Karnataka Exploited Communities Maha Union were in the delegation.

The Chief Minister that Griha Jyoti scheme – for free electricity upto 200 units – will be launched on August 1 and the Griha Lakshmi scheme – for Rs 2,000 monthly to women head of families – on August 17-18, and had held a high-level meeting with senior officials on both schemes.

He instructed the officers that the application process for all guarantee schemes should be made very simple, and unnecessary information and documents should not be demanded. Also if applications are rejected, appropriate reasons should be cited. He warned the officials not to reject them for silly reasons.

Since a large number of applications are expected to be submitted in all the guarantee schemes, the Chief Minister directed the officials of the e-governance department to increase the capacity of the Seva Sindhu portal in accordance with the huge amount of data submitted.

Discussions were held to launch the Griha Lakshmi scheme on August 17 or 18 in Belagavi. The application process will start from June 15. One can apply for this scheme online through Seva Sindhu portal. Similarly, applications can also be submitted offline in person at Nadakacheri where separate counters will be set up for this purpose.

Applicants should provide ration card number, aadhaar card Number of wife and husband, and bank account details with Aadhaar combination. Copies of these documents can also be submitted with offline applications.

The scheme amount will be deposited directly into the bank account of the eligible beneficiaries through DBT. It is estimated that this scheme will reach around 85 per cent of families in the state. APL card holders, who are not tax payers or have no GST registration, will also get this facility.