Bengaluru, 14 June

Karnataka Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Sunday ruled out discontinuing the Congress government's Gruha Lakshmi and Gruha Jyothi guarantee schemes, saying beneficiaries would only have to resubmit applications to weed out fake and ineligible recipients.

"Gruha Lakshmi and Gruha Jyothi are the pride of the Congress government," Shivakumar said, urging people not to believe rumours spread by Opposition parties.

The clarification came a day after he announced fresh applications for both schemes following the detection of irregularities. According to him, Rs 100 crore under the Gruha Lakshmi scheme had been transferred to deceased beneficiaries, while some applicants had furnished incorrect phone numbers and other details.

He said the government wanted to verify beneficiaries' names, addresses and bank accounts to ensure the benefits reached genuine recipients.

Shivakumar also said authorities wanted to know whether funds were being transferred to banks outside Karnataka or diverted for loan repayments or ponzi schemes.

Under Gruha Jyothi, which provides up to 200 units of free electricity, the government found cases where as many as five electricity meters were registered under a single name. Officials also suspect some consumers are availing of the free power scheme for commercial establishments.

Gruha Lakshmi provides Rs 2,000 a month to women heads of families.

CM assures to expedite Bairakuppe project

Shivakumar has assured that steps would be taken to expedite the long-pending Bairakuppe bridge project linking Kerala and Karnataka, Keralam PWD Minister PK Basheer said on Sunday. Shivakumar told Basheer that the proposal would soon be placed before the Karnataka Cabinet.

The bridge across the Kabani river will connect Perikkalloor in Kerala's Wayanad district with Bairakuppe in Karnataka's Kodagu district.

The project, first proposed 1994, is expected to improve connectivity and provide easier access to hospitals, educational institutions and airports in northern Keralam.”