BENGALURU: As the state government under Chief Minister DK Shivakumar has been streamlining the five guarantees, the Gruha Lakshmi scheme will now have a revised application form with additional questions to weed out duplicate beneficiaries.
The new form is expected to ask whether an applicant’s name is on the voters’ list. It will also seek voter ID information and other details.
Gruha Lakshmi was launched in August 2023 aiming to benefit 1.1 crore women. Under the scheme, the government pays Rs 2,000 per month to the woman head of a family. Among the five schemes, the lion’s share of funds goes to Gruha Lakshmi.
Shivakumar, who has been pointing to misuse of the scheme even before becoming chief minister, said recently that it has come to the government’s notice that the money continues to be credited to the accounts of even deceased beneficiaries as their mobile phones are registered in somebody else’s name. He estimated that around Rs 100 crore is being misused.
The existing form seeks details like the name and address of the woman head of the family, Aadhaar number, bank account details, husband’s name and his Aadhaar number, caste, mobile number and even asks if they are income tax or GST payers.
The new form, official sources said, will have four to six more questions to get clarity. “There will be space to mention the voter ID number. It will ask whether the beneficiary’s name is on the voter list, if the bank account is linked to Aadhaar and other questions.
This is to rule out the misuse of the scheme and to channelise funds to genuine beneficiaries,” sources said.
Shivakumar has stressed that beneficiaries may have to reapply under the revised system. “The state cabinet is likely to take a decision on the proposal. The new revised forms will be made available online and also offline at BengaluruOne, GramaOne and other centres across the state,’’ sources said.
The CM has called a cabinet meeting on Saturday, and the Gruha Lakshmi scheme is likely to come up.
A senior official on anonymity said no final decision has been taken on revising the form, and it is still under discussion.