Karnataka: Uncertainty Plagues Gruha Lakshmi Scheme Rollout, Launch Date Deferred Over Tech Glitches And To Make It 'Corruption Free'

Deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar on Saturday (June 25) announced that the launch of Gruha Lakshmi scheme will likely be deferred to address the teething technical challenges and other issues faced by applicants.

Under the Gruha Lakshmi scheme, one among five guarantees promised by the Congress party, ₹2,000 per month will be provided to women heads of all households across the state.

Shivakumar informed reporters that the decision to put the scheme on temporary hold was taken after consulting Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.

"I held a discussion with chief minister and put the Gruha Lakshmi scheme on hold as we want the process to be simpler. The scheme must be corruption-free and any individual or organisation taking money from beneficiaries will be strictly dealt with," Shivakumar said.

Shivakumar did not provide details on when the scheme will be launched.

Responding to a question on complaints that agencies entrusted with receiving applications for Gruha Lakshmi and other schemes are accepting money from applicants, Shivakumar issued a stern warning to stop such malpractices.

"We want all these schemes to reach people free of cost. If any agency is found seeking money from applicants, the government will cancel their licence," Shivakumar added.

"My appeal to people is that you don't have to bribe anyone to apply for Gruha Jyoti Yojana. You can apply through your mobile. Strict action will be taken against those who are getting money from the public," he further stated.

Shivakumar said that the government was planning to set up a helpline to help people lodge complaints if money is demanded by agency staff to enrol in the schemes.

On Friday, Shivakumar convened a meeting with Women and Child Development Minister Laxmi Hebbalkar, Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda, and Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister Priyank Kharge to address the challenges in launching the guarantee schemes.

Hebbalkar, whose ministry is responsible for implementing the Gruha Lakshmi scheme, claimed that the government was in the process of developing a software for streamlining the application process.

Hebbalkar said that the new software would have in-built functionality to generate acknowledgement after the application is accepted and the ability to weed out ineligible applicants by cross-validating the Aadhaar numbers of applicants with the Income Tax Payees and Goods and Service Tax (GST) database.

Hebbalkar also said that software app needs to be developed since there was an overload on the Seva Sindhu portal. “Problems are being faced despite updates to Seva Sindhu." she pointed out.

Though CM Siddaramaiah or his colleagues has so far refused to divulge the exact cost of implementing the guarantees, rudimentary calculations suggest that it will cost around ₹60,000 crores with Gruha Lakshmi scheme alone estimated to cost ₹39,000 crores a year as women from both APL and BPL families are eligible to seek benefits.

Under the Gruha Lakshmi scheme, the woman head of the household will get Rs 2,000 per month. This is expected to cover 1.2 crore women in the state.

According to an order released by the government, only those women identified as the 'yajamani' (female head) of a household in the Antyodaya, BPL and APL cards issued by the Department of Food & Civil Supplies will come under the Gruha Lakshmi scheme.

The woman head of the household or her husband paying income tax or filing GST returns will also be excluded from the Gruha Lakshmi scheme.

Only one woman in a family will get the cash benefit.

While the government initially announced that eligible women must apply for the benefit between June 15 and July 15, it now clarified that there is no deadline for the scheme.