Karnataka has released ₹180 crore covering three months of Gruha Lakshmi scheme payments, with the amount expected to be transferred to beneficiaries’ bank accounts shortly, state Guarantee Schemes Implementation Committee vice-president P.T. Parameshwara Naik said in Vijayanagara district on Thursday.
Naik said the names of around 8,000 deceased beneficiaries in the district had been removed from the Gruha Lakshmi beneficiary list and that assistance had been stopped only for those accounts. He said the broader re-survey of Gruha Lakshmi beneficiaries was yet to be conducted.
The remarks came after a district-level progress review meeting in Hosapete. According to Naik, the government has not stopped the scheme for other beneficiaries. His statement addresses concerns over payment delays while also indicating that beneficiary verification across the scheme remains incomplete.
Naik also provided an update on the Gruha Jyothi free electricity scheme. The survey of beneficiaries in the district was 96% complete, he said. Free electricity support had been discontinued for collapsed houses, temples, churches, mosques and unoccupied homes, but no other reductions had been made, according to the committee vice-president.
People living in rented houses can continue to receive the benefit if they submit the required documents, Naik said. The update places documentation and verification at the centre of the electricity scheme’s continuing implementation, particularly for households whose occupancy or property status may not be reflected in older records.
The meeting also reviewed the alleged diversion of Anna Bhagya rice. Thirty-five cases of rice smuggling had been registered in Vijayanagara district so far this year, Naik said, describing the number as a matter of concern. He said reports had also been received that ration grain was being taken abroad.
Naik said the Chief Minister had directed officials to take stringent legal action against those involved in the racket. He said instructions had been issued to the deputy commissioner and superintendent of police to tighten enforcement and control the diversion of subsidised foodgrain.
In a separate public-transport announcement, Naik said the government was taking steps to provide 500 new buses to the Kalyana Karnataka region. He said each division would receive between 50 and 60 new buses. The announcement did not specify the procurement schedule, the divisions covered or when the buses would enter service.
District panchayat chief executive officer Garima Panwar, committee district president K. Shivamurthy and other committee and taluk-level office-bearers attended the review meeting. The transfer of the released Gruha Lakshmi funds and the completion of the remaining beneficiary surveys are the next stated steps in the implementation process.
