Bengaluru: The Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) Guarantee Schemes Implementation Committee has said ₹20,632.77 crore has been spent so far on the five guarantee schemes within GBA limits, and that a door-to-door re-verification of Gruha Lakshmi beneficiaries is being planned. Committee president G Krishnappa addressed a press meet at the GBA headquarters on Wednesday, with vice-presidents Ramesh and Gopalakrishna present.
Spending within GBA limits
- Anna Bhagya: 18,83,817 beneficiaries, ₹1,672.14 crore (July 2023 to September 2026).
- Gruha Lakshmi: 8,95,132 beneficiaries, ₹5,309.52 crore (August 2023 to July 2026).
- Gruha Jyothi: 38,91,445 beneficiaries, ₹9,625 crore (August 2023 to September 2026).
- Yuva Nidhi: 20,119 beneficiaries, ₹62.50 crore (January 2024 to August 2026).
- Shakti: 258.78 crore trips, ₹3,963.61 crore (June 2023 to September 2026).
For Karnataka as a whole, the committee put the total spent on the five schemes at ₹1,54,861.58 crore.
Gruha Lakshmi re-verification
Plans are being drawn up to re-verify Gruha Lakshmi beneficiaries door to door using biometric or facial authentication. The process would use a web and mobile application developed by the Directorate of Electronic Delivery of Citizen Services (EDCS) and would run through a house-to-house survey and Gram One, Karnataka One, Bangalore One and Bapuji Seva Kendras. A proposal for the estimated ₹20 crore cost has been sent to the government for Cabinet approval.
The committee said the aim is to stop money reaching the bank accounts of deceased beneficiaries and to ensure only women receive the benefit. Within GBA limits, 18,522 beneficiaries have died, about ₹7.18 crore was paid to them and ₹9.22 lakh has been taken back from banks. Nine major banks have been asked to return the money to the treasury. On Gruha Jyothi, BESCOM has reached 99.93 per cent progress in re-verification in Bengaluru.
Anna Bhagya
- GBA limits have 1,060 fair price shops and 5,48,038 ration cards (AAY and BPL).
- The food minister has directed officials to install CCTV in more than 25 godowns in Bengaluru, and grain-carrying vehicles are fitted with GPS and monitored from a command and control centre.
- Electronic weighing machines are in place at fair price shops, and IRIS scanners are being introduced.
- The server problem is being addressed through a third agency, based on a report by the Karnataka Monitoring and Evaluation Authority (KMEA).
- The new food minister has assured that no ration card will be cancelled for now. e-KYC is 85 per cent complete and continues until November 10, 2026.
- Fair price shops across the state have been told to open from 7 am to 12 noon and 4 pm to 8 pm from October 1.
Yuva Nidhi and Shakti
There is no change to Yuva Nidhi: unemployed graduates and diploma holders who passed after 2022-23 will continue to get ₹3,000 and ₹1,500 a month respectively in their bank accounts, as before.
Preparations are on to issue smart cards for women under Shakti, with the government to provide ₹150 crore under a public-private partnership model. Transport Minister Byrathi Suresh will give more details later. For now, free bus passes have also been issued to all school and college students, who travel free in government buses.
Committees and helpline
Five guarantee committees, each with 14 members, have been formed for the five city corporations, with women as presidents: Jai Shambhavi (East), Roopa Devi (West), Lavanya Narasimha Murthy (North), Jayashree Gowda (South) and Salma Taj (Central).
Six-member guarantee committees are being listed for all 369 wards in GBA limits. Lists for 17 Assembly constituencies, covering 239 wards, have been sent for government approval through the State Guarantee Authority chairman. The committee helpline, 94806 83972, has received 193 complaints so far, of which 185 have been resolved and eight are recent. On October 28, the Chief Minister launched a dashboard with figures on the five schemes, along with social media accounts and a website of beneficiary success stories.
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