Bengaluru/Delhi: Beneficiaries of the government's Gruha Jyothi scheme residing in rented houses may soon have to submit an affidavit to prove they are not claiming the subsidy illegally or for more than one household.
Announcing the move in Delhi on Wednesday, Chief Minister DK Shivakumar said the government was tightening checks after receiving complaints of misuse. He insisted the exercise was not intended to reduce the number of beneficiaries but to weed out ineligible claims.
Gruha Jyothi scheme details
Gruha Jyothi, one of the government's flagship guarantee schemes, provides up to 200 units of free electricity per month for domestic consumers. The proposed requirement of an affidavit is aimed at ensuring that the benefit reaches genuine households and is not claimed multiple times by the same person.
“We will soon implement this check,” he said. “Some people are using the scheme for their shops and business establishments. We found one person had six meters registered in his name. There is no objection if this scheme is used for residential homes.”
The government is also scrutinising suspected fraudulent claims linked to deceased beneficiaries. “They have provided someone else’s phone number. We are reviewing this too,” Shivakumar said.
NITI Aayog meet and Congress meetings
Shivakumar was in Delhi for the NITI Aayog meet. He met top Congress functionaries including Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi on Tuesday and held discussions with Karnataka officials posted in Delhi on ways to tap central schemes more effectively and secure higher funding for the state.
Gruha Lakshmi biometric verification
Meanwhile, the government will also introduce Aadhaar-based biometric verification for beneficiaries of the Gruha Lakshmi scheme from July, a move aimed at plugging alleged misuse of the monthly cash transfer. The government had recently admitted that about Rs 100 crore linked to the scheme had been misused. Officials said a mobile app is being developed to streamline the registration and verification process.
Gruha Lakshmi is one of the five guarantee schemes and provides financial assistance to women heads of families. The government had allocated Rs 28,608 crore for the scheme in the 2026-27 budget.
Under the new system, women receiving the Rs 2,000 monthly assistance must complete biometric authentication to continue getting the benefit. Failure to complete verification could lead to non-credit of the amount. Beneficiaries will be charged Rs 5 for biometric registration.
The department of women and child development also plans to enrol members in a ‘Gruha Lakshmi society’. Those opting must pay a joining fee of Rs 1,250.
In an earlier clean-up exercise, 4.3 lakh names were removed after it was found that several of them were either deceased or ineligible due to high income levels. “Only the woman head of the family will receive the amount,” the official said. “If the person is dead, another female member of the family can continue to get the money if they provide the death certificate.”
