Bengaluru : JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy on Monday extended his support to a section of writers who suggested that creating jobs is more important than implementing Bhagya schemes and urged the State government not to take it lightly.

Speaking to reporters, he said a section of writers has recently said the government should provide job opportunities to the poor in order to ensure that they lead a dignified life. Implementation of Bhagya schemes like Anna Bhagya (free rice scheme for BPL families) will only make people lazy, he added.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has been consulting writers and intellectuals on running the administration. The government should take the advise given by the writers seriously. “The chief minister has been harping on the Anna Bhagya scheme. He has been projecting as if people were dying of hunger and that he saved their lives by implementing the scheme,” he said.Recently, writer S L Byrappa had commented that the ‘Bhagya’ schemes are leaving people lazy.

Kumaraswamy severely criticised Siddaramaiah and charged him with being irresponsible and casual. Cricket betting is a big racket going on in the State for some time. Betting money involved in every IPL match is to the tune of Rs 4,000 crore to Rs 5,000 crore. A whopping Rs 80,000 crore was involved in betting for the IPL semi-final match between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Chennai Super Kings recently. But the government has been acting as if it is clueless, he charged.

He said the government has not acted on IPS officer Sonia Narang’s recent letter to Karnataka Lokayukta Y Bhaskar Rao complaining about corruption in anti-corruption watchdog. People will gradually lose their confidence in the Lokayukta institution if steps are not taken to cleanse the system, he added.

The JD(S) leader sought to know why the government has not been able to trace Rs 550 crore of the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Department unauthorisedly deposited in various banks and take action against the guilty officials.