BENGALURU: In a major decision, Karnataka Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, who also holds the finance portfolio and seems keen on streamlining the five guarantees, declared here on Saturday that the beneficiaries of guarantees have to submit applications again to continue to avail benefits.
This is to remove fictitious beneficiaries and ensure that the freebies reach only genuine people. The move is expected to save a large amount of money to the state exchequer. Shivakumar, even as deputy chief minister, had been campaigning for streamlining the guarantees as some of the beneficiaries are from well-to-do families.
On Saturday, he announced the decision after a seven-hour-long review meeting with all deputy commissioners, superintendents of police, CEOs of zilla panchayats and secretariat-level officers at Vidhana Soudha.
Citing an investigation conducted in parts of the state, Shivakumar noted that around Rs 100 crore of Gruha Lakshmi money has been drawn by people even after beneficiaries were deceased. In Bagalkot and Davanagere, money is deposited into someone else’s account, while original beneficiaries have no clue, he said.
“Beneficiaries will have to re-submit applications. We are not going to stop the schemes to anyone, but they must provide accurate information. We need to know which bank they are drawing it from, whether it is going to a Karnataka bank, whether the money is moving to another state, or whether that money is being diverted to Ponzi schemes, bribes, loan repayments, or other suspicious transactions. We need all this information as we are providing the Gruha Lakshmi scheme to give them financial strength so they can survive and sustain their families,” he stated.
Even for Gruha Jyothi, where up to 200 units of power is given free to every household, beneficiaries must submit applications, he added. Beneficiaries are 1,64,000 households, but some families have 5, 6, or 7 meters. “We need to verify if they are living there themselves or if someone else is. Are they from Karnataka? What is their setup? We need to gather information on all this, and we must issue identity slips to them. Right now, we are just giving a small slip — a zero bill. There shouldn’t be an issue in issuing a card,” he said.
He clarified that Gruha Jyothi is meant for residences and not businesses. “The cost of power is rising by the day and the tariff is reaching Rs 10, Rs 12, or Rs 13. We are also purchasing it at Rs 7, Rs 8 or Rs 9 per unit. We must ensure the scheme reaches those who genuinely deserve it. We will start inviting applications within a few days. I have instructed DCs, CEOs and officers, along with our Guarantee Committee members, to coordinate and facilitate this,” he said.
Officials should reach out to beneficiaries and ensure the meter readers’ visit them. “Panchayat officers, PDOs and everyone else should get these applications delivered, entered and documented with a photo. If people don’t have a photo, we will take a photo ourselves and paste it,” he elaborated.
The meeting was also attended by ministers KJ George, MB Patil, Krishna Byre Gowda, Dr Sharan Prakash Patil, KH Muniyappa, Eshwar Khandre, UT Khader, Priyank Kharge, Ramalinga Reddy, Chief Secretary Dr Shalini Rajneesh and CM’s financial advisor LK Atheik.
Though Shivakumar did not talk about streamlining the other three guarantees - Shakti, Annabhagya and Yuva Nidhi, they too will see a reduced number of beneficiaries, official sources said. Even when Siddaramaiah was chief minister, ruling party legislators had sought streamlining of the guarantees as the money saved could be used for other development works.
The Congress government which has earmarked about Rs 51,000 crore annually for the guarantees has spent around Rs 1,21,598 crore since June 2023.
