Karnataka | DKS draws up welfare map anew

The welfare manifesto that swept the Congress to power in 2023 always had its fiscal doubters. Its flagship schemes, which reach up to 16.5 million households, have cost the exchequer a cumulative Rs 1.21 lakh crore across three fiscals. For at least two years now, voices have been calling for efficient targeting to ensure there’s no spillage from that massive head of water. With a fresh start under D.K. Shivakumar, who took charge as chief minister in June, that call appears to have been heeded. While DKS broadened the welfare ambit with schemes of his own, he has also ordered a re-mapping of older schemes with the highest budgetary outgo.

The concerns are focused especially around Gruha Lakshmi, under which a monthly Rs 2,000 allowance is wired to the bank accounts of women who are heads of households. An ongoing audit by the Accountant General has flagged several lacunae, like money going to dead beneficiaries or multiple women with the same account number. The irregularities amounted to Rs 225 crore, the agency noted, seeking details of deletions in the beneficiary table. The scheme, which reaches an estimated 12.4 million women, is the biggest of the five guarantees rolled out in 2023: at Rs 75,180 crore over three fiscal years.

While delayed payments have occasionally been flagged, the reported discrepancies invited Opposition flak. “Where is the money going? Payments have been made to fake accounts,” charged the BJP’s R. Ashoka, Leader of Opposition. DKS, who ordered tighter oversight in a mid-June review, was matter of fact: “Some people created fake records in the names of deceased persons and are availing the benefits. Therefore, beneficiaries have been asked to reapply so that their details can be verified and authenticated. There is nothing more to it.”

PROCEDURAL SNAFU?

Some of the reported discrepancies, officials explain, are connected to the lag in updating deaths in the database—an outgo of Rs 115 crore to 108,755 ‘ghost’ beneficiaries who will cease to haunt the exchequer forthwith. Also, as many as 194,560 ineligible people had been weeded out by cross-verifying the rolls with income-tax and GST returns data, they add. Only women holding Antyodaya, Below Poverty Line or Above Poverty Line ration cards and who aren’t taxpayers are eligible under Gruha Lakshmi.

Though the database is partly clouded by multiple accounts or joint accounts held by close relatives—say, a mother and daughter—officials of the Women and Child Development department say Aadhaar-based payment minimises irregularities.

The DKS dispensation has separately embarked on a door-to-door drive to verify the 16.5 million households enrolled under the free power scheme, Gruha Jyothi. Together, Karnataka has this year earmarked Rs 39,186 crore for Gruha Lakshmi and Gruha Jyothi, which represent three-fourths of the FY27 outlay of Rs 51,286 crore for the five guarantees that also include free ration, free bus rides for women and an unemployment dole for graduates. “It has provided succour. Studies reveal that the schemes helped families with expenditure on food, healthcare and basic education,” says L.K. Atheeq, finance advisor to the CM. There will no cutback, only streamlining, he adds.

The flipside? The inflexibility it has created in the state’s overall expenditure, with investment on public infrastructure taking a hit. Even the ongoing surveys to reverify beneficiaries aren’t expected to result in major expenditure savings—officials reckon it could free up Rs 3,000-4,000 crore at best. For the DKS government, which is prioritising rural infrastructure, connectivity and urban development, savings on committed expenditure, however little, will be welcome.