Rs 100 crore Gruha Lakshmi funds misused: Will review beneficiaries, says D K Shivakumar
Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar said that in some cases, the funds had continued to be credited to accounts of deceased beneficiaries.
File photo of Karnataka Chief Minister D K Shivakumar. Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar announced on Monday that the state government would review the beneficiaries of its Gruha Lakshmi scheme, admitting that at least Rs 100 crore of the funds had been misused.
“We need to determine whether schemes are reaching the right individuals. A suggestion has been made to collect beneficiary records, and we are reviewing this in every taluk,” Shivakumar said, addressing reporters at the KPCC office.
Shivakumar revealed that in some cases, the funds had continued to be credited to accounts of deceased beneficiaries, with others allegedly using their registered mobile numbers to illegally access the money.
The Gruha Lakshmi scheme—one of the five flagship guarantee schemes of the Congress government—provides a monthly financial assistance of Rs 2,000 to women.
According to sources, the government is now likely to integrate E-janma—a portal dedicated to issuing birth and death certificates—or adopt a biometric method to ensure the funds are not misused.
An official said that initially, anganwadi workers—one per 1,000 residents—would be deployed to track deaths at the local level and promptly report them to superiors, enabling immediate suspension of payments to deceased accounts. Later, a technology-based application would regularly verify the beneficiaries’ life status.
On the issue of Anna Bhagya beneficiaries not receiving rice for the past two months, Shivakumar blamed the central government, alleging that the required releases had not been made.
The Congress government introduced the guarantee schemes after coming to power in May 2023. Since the e-KYC verification at the time of enrolment, there has been no mechanism to confirm whether beneficiaries are still alive. In the two-and-a-half years since, several beneficiaries have reportedly died, without their families reporting it.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had announced in the budget that Rs 28,608 crore has been earmarked for the Gruha Lakshmi scheme (for 2026-27).
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