Resolve technical issues in guarantee schemes without delay, officials told

Chairperson of the Kalaburagi District-Level Guarantee Schemes Implementation Authority Chandrika Parameshwar on Thursday directed officials to ensure that technical issues preventing beneficiaries from availing themselves of the State government’s five guarantee schemes are resolved without delay.

Chairing a district-level review meeting on the implementation of the schemes at the new auditorium of the Zilla Panchayat, she said there should be no confusion among the public in accessing the benefits of the government’s flagship welfare programmes.

With regard to the Gruha Lakshmi scheme, Ms. Parameshwar instructed officials to create awareness among the beneficiaries that women who had not received financial assistance due to technical glitches should approach the respective Child Development Project Officer (CDPO) offices with the required documents for redressal.

She also directed banks not to adjust funds released under any of the guarantee schemes against beneficiaries’ outstanding loans and instructed bank officials to communicate with customers in the local language.

Reviewing the progress of the Gruha Lakshmi scheme, she said 5,97,166 women had been registered as beneficiaries in Kalaburagi district. A total of ₹3,018.39 crore has so far been credited to beneficiaries’ bank accounts under the scheme, including ₹782.64 crore in 2023-24, ₹1,044.48 crore in 2024-25, ₹1,077.88 crore in 2025-26 and ₹113.76 crore during the current financial year up to April.

She said the scheme had contributed significantly to the economic empowerment of women belonging to general, backward class, minority, Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe communities.

Zilla Panchayat Chief Executive Officer Rahul S. Sankanoor said efforts were under way to prevent ineligible persons from receiving benefits under the Gruha Lakshmi scheme. Of the 9,156 deceased beneficiaries identified in the district, ₹44.34 lakh that had been erroneously credited to 3,820 accounts had already been recovered with the cooperation of lead banks and remitted to the government, while the remaining recovery process was under way. He said officials would shortly undertake door-to-door verification using a dedicated mobile application and biometric authentication.

Reviewing the Gruha Jyothi scheme, the Gescom officials informed the meeting that more than 5.86 lakh consumers had enrolled under the scheme. Special inspection teams had been constituted to address complaints regarding higher electricity bills, and the teams were disposing of nearly 3,000 applications every day through doorstep verification. Consumers would have to pay only if their electricity consumption exceeded the previous one-year average or if they had outstanding dues, while the department had provided an instalment facility for clearing arrears. Officials also said WhatsApp groups comprising linemen and other field staff had been created for every area to enable consumers to directly report grievances.

The Transport Department officials said that women passengers undertook more than 22 crore trips free of cost in the district under the Shakti scheme and that the number of buses had been increased for the convenience of the public and students.

During the review of the Anna Bhagya scheme, Ms. Parameshwar directed the officials to immediately suspend any fair price shop found diverting subsidised rice to the black market. She also instructed officials to conduct regular inspections and ensure that complaint helpline numbers were prominently displayed outside every fair price shop.