Not stopping guarantee schemes: Shivakumar after criticism over reapplication plan

3 min readBengaluruJun 14, 2026 07:13 PM IST

D K Shivakumar said Gruha Lakshmi and Gruha Jyoti are the pride of the Congress government. (File Photo)

After the decision to make beneficiaries reapply for Gruha Lakshmi and Gruha Jyothi drew criticism from the Opposition, Karnataka Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Sunday denied any plan to discontinue the schemes and said the government wanted to verify the beneficiaries.

Gruha Lakshmi, which provides women heads of families with Rs 2,000 per month, and Gruha Jyothi, which provides free power of up to 200 units per month, are among the five election guarantees that the Congress has implemented in the state.

“Gruha Lakshmi and Gruha Jyoti are the pride of the Congress government. They will not be stopped under any circumstances. The public should not listen to the false news being spread by Opposition parties in this regard,” he said in a statement.

According to Shivakumar, some had forged documents in the names of dead people to avail of the schemes’ benefits. “Therefore, beneficiaries have been asked to reapply only so that their name, address, and account number can be verified and authenticated for the guarantee schemes. There is nothing more to it,” he said.

The clarification came a day after Shivakumar said the government had found out that some Gruha Lakshmi beneficiaries had died and that others had drawn more than Rs 100 crore in their names. “Hence, the government is planning to verify whether the scheme is reaching eligible beneficiaries or not. All beneficiaries will need to reapply. We are not stopping this scheme. The government has no intention of removing anyone,” he said Saturday.

Gruha Lakshmi has 1.64 crore beneficiaries. “We need to verify whether this scheme is reaching people of our state, or people of other states. We will need to issue identity cards to beneficiaries. The application will be made available within a few days,” the chief minister then said.

Leader of the Opposition R Ashoka, however, alleged that the motive behind the fresh applications was to slash the number of beneficiaries. “In order to remove the name of the dead beneficiaries, should all beneficiaries submit fresh applications?” he wrote on X on Sunday.

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The BJP MLA said anti-people policies would not be tolerated.

“Stop harassing people in the name of guarantee schemes by asking people to queue up,” Ashoka wrote, demanding the government fulfil its assurances.