Telangana’s BC Bandhu ‘Modi’fied into PM Vishwakarma scheme

The Vishwakarma scheme, clearly modeled on Telangana’s BC Bandhu scheme though with a few modifications, interestingly keeps up the Modi government’s ‘traditional occupation’ of copying schemes from the country’s youngest State.

Hyderabad: When it comes to unabashed plagiarism of welfare-oriented schemes, none can beat Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party-led union government.

Wondering why? A day after Modi announced the PM Vishwakarma scheme in his Independence Day speech, the union cabinet on Wednesday cleared the scheme, which promises credit support up to Rs.1 lakh (first tranche) to artisans including blacksmiths, cobblers, ironsmiths and fishermen among others engaged in 18 traditional occupations.

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Sounds familiar? Rewind to June 9. Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao had launched what is now known as the BC Bandhu scheme, which extends a financial assistance of Rs.1 lakh to artisans from 15 backward classes engaged in traditional occupations.

The Vishwakarma scheme, clearly modeled on Telangana’s BC Bandhu scheme though with a few modifications, interestingly keeps up the Modi government’s ‘traditional occupation’ of copying schemes from the country’s youngest State.

It might be a coincidence that Chandrashekhar Rao mentioned in his Independence Day speech at Golconda Fort on Tuesday that ‘Telangana practices, the nation follows’, and Modi soon enough gave proof for the same.

Earlier, the Centre, which has many a time appreciated and awarded Telangana’s schemes, adopted Mission Bhagiratha and named it ‘Har Ghar Ko Jal’, while Mission Kakatiya took a national avatar as ‘Amrit Sarovar’. Rythu Bandhu became PM Kisan Samman Nidhi, while Telangana’s Arogyasri found a cousin in Ayushman Bharat.

Incidentally, the Modi government is not new to this practice of renaming schemes. While the latest source of inspiration is Telangana, existing schemes were renamed, modified, tweaked and presented as one of Modi’s own original ideas earlier.

Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan, originally launched in 2013 became Swachh Bharat Mission, while the National Optical Fibre Network (2011) became BharatNet. The 2011 National Manufacturing Policy became ‘Make in India’, while the 2008 National Girl Child Day programs were tweaked into ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao Yojana’.

With ‘modi’fications, the 2006 National eGovernance Plan became ‘Digital India’, while the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission became AMRUT and the 2005 Basic Savings Bank Deposit Account concept was renamed Jan Dhan Yojana. Even the 1985 Indira Awaas Yojana wasn’t spared and was tweaked and renamed into the Pradhan Mantri Gramin Awaas Yojana. There were tweaks and modifications to the original ideas, but then, the BJP has been thick-skinned enough to present all these as its own.