MANGALURU: In a bid to plug leaks in its Gruha Lakshmi scheme, the state government will soon launch door-to-door reverification of beneficiaries across the state after it was found that Rs 177 crore had been credited into the bank accounts of deceased beneficiaries.
The government has already initiated a drive for Gruha Jyothi to remove ineligible beneficiaries.
Karnataka State Guarantee Implementation Authority Chairman HM Revanna said six-member committees will be formed at the gram panchayat and ward levels to assist government officials in the verification process.
A government order for the Gruha Lakshmi reverification was issued on August 31 after discussions with CM DK Shivakumar, he said.
The committees will not entail any financial burden on the government and will only facilitate the verification process, Revanna said.
Govt mulls biometric check of beneficiaries
Each six-member committee for the Gruha Lakshmi reverification will have Congress workers, including two women and representatives from the Scheduled Castes, minorities, backward classes and the general category.
The government stated recently that Rs 177 crore had been paid to deceased Gruha Lakshmi beneficiaries before the loophole was plugged, while around Rs 30 crore has been recovered so far. Revanna said mechanisms have already been put in place to automatically stop payments upon the death of a beneficiary. The government is also examining the introduction of biometric authentication and other safeguards to prevent similar lapses in future.
Revanna said the government is considering reducing the monthly rice entitlement under PDS by 5 kg and instead supplying an Indira Kit containing essential commodities such as edible oil, sugar and pulses. The proposal, he said, is intended to curb the diversion of subsidised rice into the black market.
Under the Gruha Lakshmi scheme, the state government pays the woman head of a family Rs 2,000 per month.