The Karnataka government has temporarily paused new registrations for the Gruha Lakshmi scheme starting Thursday. This decision, made by the Karnataka Women and Child Development Department, aims to prevent confusion as the first installment of ₹2000 is distributed to eligible beneficiaries.
In late August, the Karnataka government officially introduced the Gruha Lakshmi scheme during a special event in Mysuru. The program’s inauguration witnessed the presence of prominent figures, including Congress MP Rahul Gandhi and the party’s national president, Mallikarjun Kharge, coinciding with the celebration of Raksha Bandhan.
This initiative offers a monthly cash assistance of ₹2,000 to women heading households across the state. In a symbolic act, Rahul Gandhi used a tablet to instantly transfer the funds directly into the bank accounts of Gruha Lakshmi Yojana beneficiaries, utilizing the direct benefit transfer (DBT) mechanism.
Source: News9live
Between September 1 and September 10, the state government opened a window for modifications to ration cards, enabling individuals to access the benefits offered under the ‘Gruha Lakshmi’ scheme. Initially, the government had specified that only women listed as the head of the household on ration cards, or those holding Below Poverty Line (BPL), Above Poverty Line, or Antyodaya cards, were eligible for the program. It had previously restricted citizens from altering their ration card details. Notably, the food and civil supplies department identified that more than 600,000 BPL cardholders had men as the designated heads of their households.
Source: The South First
As of now, an impressive count of 13 million women have already registered for the scheme. To support this substantial outreach, the state government has allocated a substantial budget of ₹17,500 crore for the program in the ongoing fiscal year, with plans to allocate approximately ₹32,000 crore for the following year. These significant financial commitments underscore the government’s dedication to empower and assist women beneficiaries through the Gruha Lakshmi scheme.
