Bengaluru, Sep 26 (IANS): Senior BJP leader and Leader of the Opposition in the Karnataka Assembly, R. Ashoka, on Saturday alleged that the state government was deliberately delaying payments under the ‘Gruha Lakshmi’ scheme by imposing new technical conditions and citing the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
Ashoka alleged on ‘X’ that the Congress government had come to power on the strength of its “free” schemes for women in Karnataka but was now making beneficiaries run from pillar to post by introducing additional requirements for receiving Gruha Lakshmi payments.
He claimed that women beneficiaries were being required to have a SIM card registered in their own name and linked to their bank account, which he said was creating difficulties for poor and rural women.
“Poor women who do not have their own mobile phone or SIM card are now being forced to purchase new SIM cards and spend money every month on Aadhaar and KYC updates,” Ashoka alleged.
He further accused the government of using the SIR process as a pretext to delay the release of monthly guarantee payments to lakhs of women beneficiaries.
“Is this a systematic conspiracy by the government to delay payments under the guise of SIR and electoral roll verification? Is this a delay tactic being used to hide the empty state treasury?” Ashoka asked.
Addressing Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, Ashoka questioned whether imposing technical requirements and citing SIR to make poor women run from office to office and potentially deprive them of benefits was the government’s model of implementing its guarantees.
He demanded that the government immediately withdraw the “complicated” technical requirements, stop delaying payments and release the entire pending amount due to every eligible Gruha Lakshmi beneficiary.
Ashoka’s remarks come amid the ongoing SIR exercise in Karnataka, under which the electoral rolls are being revised and verified.
It can be noted that the Gruha Lakshmi Scheme is a flagship women’s empowerment initiative launched by the Government of Karnataka in August 2023.
It provides Rs 2,000 per month (Rs 24,000 annually) directly to the eligible beneficiaries. The state earmarked a major sum of Rs 28,608 crore for the fiscal year, accounting for over half of the total expenditure on the state’s collective guarantee programs.
