Mysuru: The Chamarajanagar district administration has identified 8,530 ineligible beneficiaries under the Gruha Lakshmi scheme, including 6,013 deceased persons whose accounts continued to receive government deposits. Officials from the women and child welfare department discovered and removed these beneficiaries during a verification drive.
A total of 2,80,860 women have registered under the scheme since its launch in the district. The department has been depositing nearly Rs 56 crore every month into beneficiaries’ accounts over the past three years. Among the 8,530 ineligible beneficiaries, 2,500 were GST and income tax payers, despite being ineligible for the benefit.
About the Gruha Lakshmi Scheme
Under the Gruha Lakshmi scheme, the state government provides Rs 2,000 per month to the woman head of a family. Officials said assistance was cleared until the end of March but withheld for 16,000 beneficiaries among the 2,80,860 due to technical reasons and pending verification.
Verification Drive Intensified
After receiving complaints that family members were withdrawing money from accounts of deceased beneficiaries using ATM cards, the department stepped up verification. It is now tracking such cases by gathering information through anganwadi workers and assistants, who have been instructed to report deaths immediately to higher authorities and taluk child development programme officers (CDPOs). Officials said the government is introducing modifications for re-verification, issuing fresh guidelines for resubmission of applications, and collecting one-time biometric identification in the form of thumb impressions. They added that verification helps save public funds and include more eligible beneficiaries.
Official Statement
Speaking to TOI, Chamarajanagar District Guarantee Implementation Committee chairman HV Honganur Chandru said the government has cleared assistance to all beneficiaries until the end of March. The withheld assistance for 16,000 beneficiaries will be credited shortly, he added. He said there was no need for concern over the fresh verification, as it is aimed only at identifying genuine beneficiaries.
