Karnataka Orders Door-to-Door Survey to Weed Out Ineligible Scheme Beneficiaries

On Friday, June 19, 2026, Karnataka Chief Minister D K Shivakumar announced that the state government will launch a door-to-door survey to identify genuine beneficiaries and weed out ineligible claimants of its flagship guarantee schemes. Speaking at a high-level review meeting at Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru, Shivakumar stated that the survey aims to resolve technical issues and ensure that no eligible beneficiary is excluded while stopping wrongful fund transfers.

The decision comes after the state government flagged major technical issues in the implementation of the Gruha Lakshmi scheme, where funds were mistakenly credited to deceased individuals and active GST-IT payees.

According to S R Mehroz Khan, the vice-chairperson of the Karnataka State Guarantees’ Implementation Authority, approximately 1.08 lakh deceased beneficiaries had money credited to their accounts through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT). This resulted in wrongful transfers totaling Rs 115 crore. Khan stated that the government has recovered Rs 15 crore so far and plans to recover the remaining amount within a month. Additionally, 20,000 GST payees have already been dropped from the scheme.

During the meeting, Shivakumar emphasized that welfare schemes funded by Karnataka must only benefit genuine local residents. He directed officials to ensure that only individuals registered on the state's electoral rolls receive benefits, urging residents to verify that their names are not omitted during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision.

The Chief Minister also instructed officials to encourage well-off beneficiaries to voluntarily opt out of the schemes. He noted that while the Gruha Jyothi scheme had fewer irregularities due to early safeguards, other schemes experienced higher levels of misuse.

To address issues in the Gruha Lakshmi scheme, Shivakumar directed that beneficiaries who changed their bank accounts should not be excluded. This instruction was issued because the scheme's funds were being automatically adjusted against loans they had availed. He also ordered that voice messages be sent to beneficiaries' phones immediately after funds are credited.

Additionally, Shivakumar addressed other state initiatives, directing officials to curb the illegal sale of Anna Bhagya rice in the black market. The state has been distributing an additional 5 kg of rice monthly to 4.44 crore beneficiaries under the scheme since February 2025.