Gruha Lakshmi, Gruha Jyothi to continue: DKS

KArnataka chief government minister D K Shivakumar on sun dismissed venture o'er deuce of the government’s flagship welfare programmes, asserting that Gruha Lakshmi and Gruha Jyothi would continue without interruption. His announcement came a day after a fresh verification exercise triggered concerns among beneficiaries and criticism from the opposition.“Gruha Lakshmi and Gruha Jyothi are the pride of the Congress government. They will not be stopped under any circumstances. The public should not listen to the false news being spread by Opposition parties in this regard,” Shivakumar said in a statement issued on Sunday.He said beneficiaries were being asked to submit fresh applications only to verify their names, addresses and bank account details after irregularities came to light. According to him, some people had fraudulently claimed benefits in the names of deceased beneficiaries, making it necessary to authenticate records rather than discontinue the schemes.“All guarantee schemes will continue one hundred percent and that no one need be anxious,” he said.The clarification followed Shivakumar’s announcement on Saturday that beneficiaries of Gruha Lakshmi and Gruha Jyothi would have to reapply as part of an effort to plug leakages in the two programmes. At the time, he said the government had no intention of removing genuine beneficiaries and that those who submitted valid documents would continue receiving assistance.Explaining the need for the exercise, Shivakumar said more than ₹100 crore under Gruha Lakshmi had been claimed using the identities of people who had died. “It has come to our notice that benefits of over ₹100 crore had been claimed by others under Gruha Lakshmi, in the names of those who had died,” he said.He also described irregularities that the government said had surfaced under Gruha Jyothi, including multiple electricity meters registered in one person’s name, uncertainty over whether beneficiaries continued to live at the declared addresses, possible claims by people from outside Karnataka and the use of the subsidy for commercial premises.“Likewise, there are multiple electricity meters in the name of one person. We need to check if that person is staying at the same address, or if someone else is residing there, and whether benefits are going to people from our State, or to outsiders. Many are also using the Gruha Jyothi scheme for commercial properties. These things need to stop. The cost of 200 units of power is increasing. The cost of power we are purchasing is also going up.”He said beneficiaries would also be issued identity cards as part of the verification process.Gruha Lakshmi provides ₹2,000 a month to women heading below poverty line households. Government figures show the scheme has benefited 1.24 crore women, with expenditure of ₹62,345 crore through 2025-26 and an allocation of ₹28,608 crore for 2026-27. Gruha Jyothi provides free electricity for residential consumption of up to 200 units. The government says 1.74 crore beneficiaries have received support under the programme, on which ₹28,000 crore has been spent through 2025-26, with ₹10,578 crore earmarked for 2026-27.Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council Chalavadi Narayanaswamy alleged that around 3.5 lakh women had been removed from the Gruha Lakshmi scheme, calling the move deceptive and unfair. He questioned whether any survey, verification process or committee review had preceded the exclusions and said the government had failed to explain why those beneficiaries were dropped.Narayanaswamy also referred to reported changes in LPG distribution under the Ujjwala scheme, saying economically weaker households would be affected. He defended Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 12 years in office, saying the milestone reflected 4,399 days in power secured through democratic elections. He further alleged that the state Home Department was monitoring social media activity to target political opponents and BJP supporters, sought action against Congress MLA Pradeep Eshwar over alleged provocative remarks, accused the government of selective enforcement of the law and alleged political conspiracy in recent controversies while saying governance had taken a back seat.