BENGALURU: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R Ashoka claimed that there were suspicions of irregularities in the guarantee schemes, as the figures available with the government do not match. Chief Minister DK Shivakumar should release a white paper and provide accurate information in the Assembly, he said.
Ashoka said in the Independency Day speech, the CM stated that under the Shakti scheme, 3.5 crore women in the state have undertaken 796 crore free journeys, for which Rs 14,875 crore has been spent over three years. “However, according to an official post from the Chief Minister’s X account (June 11, 2026), by the time the government completed three years, women had undertaken 753.7 crore free journeys and free tickets worth Rs 19,771 crore had been issued.
Prior to that, in an X post on May 25, 2026, it was mentioned that 726 crore free journeys had been made and Rs 18,943 crore had been spent. When these are compared, a difference of around Rs 5,000 to 6,000 crore emerges. The government must clarify how the expenditure that had increased has suddenly decreased,” the LoP said.
He said under the Gruha Lakshmi scheme, Rs 5,000 crore for two months has still not been released, and there is no response from the government on whether this has been paid. “In his Independence Day speech, the CM said there are 1.28 crore women beneficiaries and that more than Rs 76,908 crore has been disbursed so far. However, in a post made by the government on May 26, 2026, after completing three years, it was stated that Rs 74,216 crore had been given to 1.24 crore beneficiaries.
The figures released to the media by Dinesh Gooligowda, Vice-Chairman of the State Guarantee Schemes Implementation Authority, create further confusion. According to this committee, under the Gruha Lakshmi scheme, Rs 74,650 crore has been given to 1.24 crore women in 31 instalments. This means that from May till now, the number of beneficiaries has increased by 4 lakh. The chief minister must explain why there is such a large discrepancy in the figures,” Ashoka demanded.