Bengaluru: Labelling them rumours, chief minister DK Shivakumar dismissed suggestions that the government’s flagship guarantee schemes would be halted and insisted the welfare programmes, especially Gruha Lakshmi and Gruha Jyothi, will continue without interruption.
In a statement issued Sunday, Shivakumar urged the public not to believe what he called “false propaganda” being spread by the opposition. He explained that the government has only initiated a reverification exercise to identify genuine beneficiaries and prevent misuse of the schemes. He reiterated that instances had been detected where fraudulent claims were made using fake documents, and bank accounts were opened in the names of deceased persons.
“Beneficiaries have been asked to re-submit details only to verify names, addresses and bank accounts. This exercise is not intended to stop any of the guarantee schemes,” he said.
The schemes were rolled out in 2023 and were part of Congress’ manifesto for the 2023 assembly elections. The government spends nearly Rs 60,000 crore on the five schemes, the others being Anna Bhagya (free rice), Shakthi (free travel for women in state-run non-AC buses) and Yuva Nidhi (monthly allowance for unemployed graduates).
Meanwhile, BJP state president BY Vijayendra Sunday accused the government of trying to “drastically reduce” the number of beneficiaries due to the financial strain. Vijayendra told reporters in Bengaluru Congress had failed to properly assess eligibility criteria before rolling out the schemes and is now trying to exclude lakhs of beneficiaries. He cited statements by Congress members, including MLA RV Deshpande and former chief minister Siddaramaiah’s economic adviser Basavaraj Rayareddi, who reportedly acknowledged the financial burden imposed by the schemes.
Vijayendra also took a swipe at Congress over the ongoing cabinet expansion exercise, alleging that there were only two “quotas” to become a minister — a “management quota” and a “payment quota” — and claimed that ministerial berths were being decided accordingly.
