The Karnataka government is set to launch a comprehensive re-verification exercise of beneficiaries enrolled under the Gruha Lakshmi scheme, aiming to remove ineligible, deceased, and disqualified recipients from its rolls and ensure that the monthly financial assistance reaches only genuine women heads of households. The exercise, expected to cover all 1.23 crore registered beneficiaries across the state, comes nearly three years after the scheme was launched in August 2023.

High-Level Meeting to Finalise Decision

Senior leader and guarantees committee chairperson H.M. Revanna is scheduled to meet Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar at his residence on Monday to discuss the re-verification plan. A formal announcement on the exercise is expected to follow the meeting.

This is not the first such audit under the Congress government. A similar re-verification was earlier conducted for the Gruha Jyothi free electricity scheme — which covers up to 200 watts — to weed out ineligible claimants across Karnataka.

How the Verification Will Work

The Women and Child Welfare Department has been given a one-month deadline to complete the exercise, which will be carried out at the district and taluk levels. Members of local Guarantee Committees will participate in the process to assess eligibility on the ground.

Field staff will visit beneficiaries at their homes, collecting and verifying details through a dedicated mobile application. Face authentication and biometric verification will be deployed as part of the process. In urban areas, Revenue Inspectors and Bill Collectors are expected to assist in the survey.

Officials will flag beneficiaries who are registered under Goods and Services Tax (GST) or who file income-tax returns, as these categories may not meet the scheme's eligibility criteria. Records will also be cross-checked to identify deceased beneficiaries who continue to receive the monthly assistance.

Scale of the Scheme and Financial Stakes

The Gruha Lakshmi scheme provides ₹2,000 per month to eligible women identified as heads of households. With 1.23 crore beneficiaries currently on the rolls, the Karnataka government has budgeted approximately ₹32,000 crore annually for the scheme and has spent between ₹74,000 crore and ₹76,500 crore in total since its inception.

Around ₹20 crore has been earmarked specifically for the re-verification exercise — a relatively modest outlay given the financial scale of the scheme it is designed to protect.

Concerns Over Burden on Daily-Wage Beneficiaries

Critics and welfare advocates have flagged a potential downside: the re-verification process could impose a real cost on the very women it seeks to protect. Beneficiaries who depend on daily wages may need to spend an entire day completing the application and verification process, potentially forgoing ₹500 to ₹700 in daily earnings, according to estimates cited by officials.

The government has stated that the exercise is aimed at improving transparency and preventing fund leakage, but the logistical burden on low-income women — particularly in rural areas — remains a concern that has not yet been publicly addressed.

What Comes Next

Once the meeting between Revanna and Shivakumar concludes, the government is expected to issue formal guidelines for the drive. The Women and Child Development Department will coordinate the state-wide exercise, with implementation beginning at the district level. Beneficiaries found ineligible will be removed from the scheme's rolls, while genuine claimants are expected to continue receiving the monthly assistance uninterrupted.