Congress MLC Seeks Review Of Karnataka Government's Gruha Lakshmi, Gruha Jyothi Programme

Published 16 June 2026 · politics

Congress MLC Seeks Review Of Karnataka Government's Gruha Lakshmi, Gruha Jyothi Programme Reported By, Last Updated: June 16, 2026, 07:29 IST Congress MLC Dinesh Gooligowda

Congress MLC Seeks Review Of Karnataka Government's Gruha Lakshmi, Gruha Jyothi Programme Reported By, Last Updated: June 16, 2026, 07:29 IST Congress MLC Dinesh Gooligowda flags irregularities in Gruha Lakshmi and Gruha Jyothi, cites payments to deceased and tax paying beneficiaries, seeks verification. Congress MLC Dinesh Gooligowda wrote a letter to Chief Minister DK Shivakumar and flagged the alleged irregularities. Questions have emerged over the implementation of Karnataka’s flagship guarantee schemes after Congress MLC and Vice-Chairman of the State Guarantee Implementation Committee, Dinesh Gooligowda, urged the government to review beneficiary lists under the Gruha Lakshmi and Gruha Jyothi programmes. In a letter addressed to Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, Gooligowda flagged alleged irregularities, including the presence of deceased beneficiaries and income tax/GST-paying individuals in the list of Gruha Lakshmi recipients. He also released documents in support of his claims.

According to the letter, nearly 1.95 lakh deceased beneficiaries were found in the Gruha Lakshmi database as of March 2026. Gooligowda said continued payments to such accounts could result in an annual outgo of nearly Rs 469 crore unless corrective measures are taken. He further claimed that around 1.94 lakh beneficiaries who pay Income Tax or GST are receiving the Rs 2,000 monthly assistance under the Gruha Lakshmi scheme. “Around 1,95,426 women filing Income Tax and GST have applied to get benefits under the scheme. The government should decide whether people filing GST and Income Tax should continue to receive these benefits," Gooligowda said. The Congress MLC’s letter also underlined the scale of expenditure incurred under the state’s five guarantee schemes. According to figures cited by him, the government has spent over Rs 1.38 lakh crore on the guarantees so far.

Of this, Rs 72,253 crore has been spent on Gruha Lakshmi and Rs 26,115 crore on Gruha Jyothi up to April 2026. Seeking stronger safeguards, Gooligowda suggested introducing beneficiary verification measures similar to the biometric authentication used under the Anna Bhagya scheme. He also called for mandatory sharing of death records between departments to prevent payments to deceased beneficiaries and sought recovery of funds already transferred to such accounts. The Congress leader further urged the government to examine complaints that some commercial electricity connections may be availing benefits under the Gruha Jyothi scheme. He requested a comprehensive review of both schemes to ensure that benefits reach only eligible beneficiaries. The development is significant as it comes from within the ruling Congress establishment and from a functionary directly associated with the monitoring of the government’s flagship guarantee programmes.