Stage set for launch of Yuva Nidhi unemployment dole promised by Congress in Karnataka

Shivamogga is decked up for the launch of the Congress government’s fifth poll guarantee ‘Yuva Nidhi’ scheme on January 12, which offers unemployment assistance to graduates and diploma holders who passed in the academic year 2022-23.

The government has promised to give Rs 3,000 per month to degree holders and Rs 1,500 per month to diploma holders who were unable to get a job in the past six months and are not pursuing their higher studies. The assistance will be paid for two years.

The event will be held on the birth anniversary of youth icon Swami Vivekananda on January 12 at Shivamogga. A massive stage has been erected and seating arrangements have been made for over 85,000 people to attend the event, the organisers said.

The ‘Yuva Nidhi’ scheme will be launched in the presence of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, Skill Development Minister Dr Sharanaprakash Patil, ministers including Madhu Bangarappa, Dr M C Sudhakar, legislators, officials and other dignitaries. More than one lakh beneficiaries from Shivamogga, Davanagere, Chitradurga, Chikkamagaluru, Udupi and Haveri districts are expected to take part in the event which begins at 11 AM. The first allowance will be released soon after the launch of the programme, the organisers said.

Sharanaprakash Patil, whose department is implementing the Yuva Nidhi scheme, said in a statement that the scheme is applicable only to those graduates and diploma holders whose domicile is Karnataka.

Only those applicants who have obtained degree/diploma in 2023 and faced unemployment even after 180 days of completion of their education are eligible for the benefit under the scheme. The dole will end soon after the applicant gets a job, the statement said The unemployment allowance will be available till the applicant gets a job or for a maximum of two years from the date of application, the statement added.

The applicant must possess Aadhar card, bank passbook, ration card, mark sheets of SSLC, PUC, degree or diploma, it further said.

The applications can be submitted at Karnataka One, Grama One, Bapuji Seva Kendra or Seva Sindhu portals.

“The scheme is neither applicable for those who have enrolled for higher education and continuing studies nor applicable for those getting scholarships. The scheme is not applicable for those employed in government or private sectors,” the statement clarified.

The state government has earmarked Rs 250 crore this year. It expects that next year, it will cost Rs 1,200 crore and from 2026 onwards government will spend Rs 1,500 crore annually on Yuva Nidhi.

The Congress government has already launched four of the five guarantees, which are ‘Shakti’, providing free rides to Karnataka women in non-luxury government buses, ‘Anna Bhagya’ offering 10 kg rice to BPL families, ‘Gruha Jyoti’ giving free electricity up to 200 units to household users, and ‘Gruha Lakshmi’ promising Rs 2,000 a month to women heads of families having APL/BPL ration cards.