BENGALURU: The Women and Child Development Department has issued a clarification on media reports and objections in the auditor general’s audit report that financial assistance is being transferred to the bank accounts of ineligible and deceased beneficiaries under the Gruha Lakshmi scheme.
This scheme is being implemented as per rules in a transparent manner and financial assistance is reaching eligible beneficiaries without any problem, the department claimed.
In all, 1,94,560 women, who pay income tax and file GST returns, are being identified for their exclusion from the scheme, it said.
In all, 2,88,376 women registered under this scheme have died. Information on deceased beneficiaries is being obtained through e-janma/family software information and anganwadi workers and PDOs. The names of such beneficiaries will be deleted soon.
Of the dead beneficiaries, names of 1,03,922 have been changed in the ration cards as per rules and financial assistance is being provided to the new heads of families after re-registration.
Due to non-availability of information on the death of beneficiaries on time, Rs 115 crore was transferred to the bank accounts of 1,08,755 dead beneficiaries. Of the amount, Rs 15.24 crore has been returned to the government’s account through the banks. The process to recover the rest is in progress, the department said.
Scheme implemented through ABPS
The scheme is being implemented through Aadhaar-Based Payment System (ABPS). When the department conducted a physical field visit at the district and taluk levels, it was found that money was deposited in the same accounts only in cases of beneficiaries having joint accounts (mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, and mother and daughter).
They are eligible beneficiaries having different ration cards. Apart from this, money may have been transferred to wrong accounts due to a technical error (narration error) in banks.
Since beneficiaries have the freedom to change their Aadhaar link to different bank accounts, there is a possibility of funds being deposited in such accounts in different months. However, no beneficiary can get funds deposited in more than one account in a single month.
Sometimes due to technical issues with banks (narration error), a response file is created without account details. When the department checked this, it was confirmed that funds were deposited in such accounts as well and the banks provided complete details in the following months.
In all, 1,30,35,318 beneficiaries (Others: 95,66,679, Scheduled Castes: 24,95,604 and Scheduled Tribes: 9,73,035) have been registered in the state by the end of April, 2026, and Rs 2,000 is being transferred to the bank accounts of the heads of families every month through Direct Cash Transfer (DBT).
In a statement, the director of the department said the public and media should not be misled.
Biggest cybercrime: Ashoka
Leader of Opposition in the Assembly, R Ashoka, on Thursday alleged that a massive Rs 225 crore government-sponsored loot has taken place in the Gruha Lakshmi scheme, involving a gang of officials and politicians. He demanded that an Special Investigation Team (SIT) be constituted immediately to investigate the matter.
Ashoka said that despite the CAG report clearly stating a Rs 225 crore scam, the State Government has taken no action. Payments were made to fake accounts, and a big gang of officials and politicians is behind it, he said, questioning whether the Revenue Department was simply sleeping while money was being paid in the names of deceased persons.
“Even though Karnataka is known as an IT state, the government has failed to prevent payments being made in the names of deceased persons. Software was deliberately designed to enable this loot in the names of the dead. This is the biggest cyber crime, and an SIT must be formed to investigate it. It has been found that 2.11 lakh beneficiaries are dead,” the BJP leader said.
The data of another 77,000 people is yet to be traced, he said, alleging that already Rs 5,000 crore have been swallowed in the past, and now another scam has occurred.
He took the government to task for spending Rs 150 crore on the guarantee implementation committees which were set up only to help give asylum to the politically “displaced” within the Congress.
“The committee has failed to prevent irregularities. In fact, they themselves are the leaders of these scams,” Ashoka, MLA from Padmanabhanagar, said.
