Karnataka to launch schemes of free power, Rs 2,000 women’s allowance in August

The Griha Jyoti scheme is expected to cost the exchequer nearly Rs 13,000 crore per year and the Griha Lakshmi scheme nearly Rs 35,000 crore. The five Congress guarantees—including free bus travel for women, a dole for youths and 10 kg of rice for every member of BPL homes—is expected to cost around Rs 60,000 crore per year.

The government is expected to spell out the modalities of raising funds to compensate for the outflow of resources in a budget that will be presented in July.
On Thursday, Siddaramaiah instructed officials to keep the application process for all guarantee schemes simple and not to reject applications for whimsical reasons.

“Since a large number of applications are expected to be submitted in all the guarantee schemes, the chief minister directed the officials of the e-governance department to increase the capacity of the Seva Sindhu portal in accordance with the huge amount of data submitted,” the chief minister’s office said in a statement.

“We are planning to launch Griha Jyoti scheme on 1st August at Kalaburgi,” Siddaramaiah said and instructed officials to remove all confusion about the schemes.

“Registration for the Griha Jyoti scheme can be done through Seva Sindhu portal. In addition, help desks will be established in all ESCOMs. The registration process will start from June 15. Application can be submitted through Bangalore One, Karnataka One, Gram One centres and also can be submitted at home through computers or mobile apps,” a government statement said.

“New house owners or new tenants will also be given free electricity facilities based on the state average of electricity consumption. The chief minister said that once the average of one year is available, based on this data, free electricity will be provided,” it said.

Arrears of old electricity bills will be allowed to be paid till September 30. Tenants can avail of this facility by submitting the agreement letter, Aadhaar card, RR number and voter ID of the same address, as per the guidelines for the Griha Jyoti scheme.

The Griha Lakshmi scheme is expected to be launched on August 17 or 18 in Belagavi.

“The application process will start from June 15. One can apply for this scheme online through the Seva Sindhu portal. Similarly, applications can also be submitted offline in person at Nadakacheris, where separate counters will be set up for this purpose,” the statement said.

“Applicants should provide ration card number, Aadhaar card number of wife and husband, bank account details with Aadhaar combination. Copies of these documents can also be submitted with offline applications,” the statement said.

“The scheme amount will be deposited directly into the bank account of the eligible beneficiaries through DBT. It is estimated that this scheme will reach around 85% of families in the State. APL cardholders who are not taxpayers and have no GST registration will also get this facility,” it added.