Karnataka: Rahul Gandhi Launches Gruha Lakshmi Scheme, Congress Calls It 'World's Largest Welfare Programme For Women'

The Congress government in Karnataka has launched the 'Gruha Lakshmi' scheme on 30 August.

It was one of the five promises made by the party during its election campaign.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi arrived in Bengaluru before the scheme's launch and transferred the funds directly into the bank accounts of the beneficiaries through the direct benefit transfer (DBT) system.

The scheme was launched at a public event in Mysuru in the presence of Chief Minister Siddaramiah and Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge, along with other senior leaders of the party.

During his speech at the event, the Congress MP emphasised the party's commitment to fulfilling its promises.

He highlighted that the Congress party follows through on its words, as demonstrated by the direct transfer of Rs 2,000 into the bank accounts of millions of women.

The Gruha Lakshmi Scheme aims to provide monthly assistance of Rs 2,000 to women who are the heads of below poverty line (BPL) families. To support this scheme, the Karnataka government has allocated a substantial Rs 32,000 crore annually.

The scheme has been launched to provide monthly assistance of Rs 2,000 to approximately 1.1 crore women who are the heads of their households.

According to K C Venugopal, Congress general secretary, this scheme will be the "world's largest-ever welfare scheme for women".

Women who are government employees and taxpayers, as well as families whose husbands pay income tax or file GST returns, are not eligible to avail of the benefits offered by this scheme.

The goal of this project is to promote gender equality by providing financial assistance to eligible housewives for their household duties.

Women who are the heads of households and possess an above poverty line card (APL)/below poverty line (BPL)/Antyodaya Card, as well as a bank-linked Aadhaar card, bank details, and an Aadhaar-linked phone number, are eligible for the scheme. If someone does not have their bank account linked with Aadhaar, they can provide a passbook as an alternative.

However, only one woman per family can be a beneficiary of this scheme.