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Ration cards can be modified to avail ‘Gruha Lakshmi’ aid: Government
The ration card holders can now change the head of the family in the ration cards by nominating women, thus, allowing them to avail monthly assistance of ₹2,000
Bengaluru
The state government has allowed to modify ration cards from September 1 to September 10, to avail the benefits of the ‘Gruha Lakshmi’ scheme, offering monthly financial aid of ₹2,000 to women head of families in Karnataka, according to officials.
The state government had earlier mandated that only women whose names are mentioned as head of the family in the ration cards, or Below Poverty Line (BPL) cards, Above Poverty Line cards and Antyodaya cards, were eligible for the scheme. It had not permitted citizens to make changes to the ration cards.
However, the ration card holders can now change the head of the family in the ration cards by nominating women, thus, allowing them to avail monthly assistance of ₹2,000.
“The beneficiaries can now make the changes in the ration cards from September 1-10, and avail the financial aid,” an official in the food and civil supplies department said. The beneficiaries can make modifications to their ration cards at Bengaluru One, Karnataka One and Grama One centres.
According to the food and civil supplies department, more than 600,000 BPL card holders have men as the head of the family.
The Congress government launched the Gruha Lakshmi scheme on August 30 in Mysuru. The scheme was launched by leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi at an event presided over by chief minister Siddaramaiah and deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar.
“Contrary to the claims made by our critics, our government has successfully implemented our pre-poll promises. Karnataka has not gone bankrupt as they had predicted,” Siddaramaiah said at the launch on August 30.
The registration for the Gruha Lakshmi scheme began on July 19. Women government employees, taxpayers and families whose husbands pay income tax or file GST returns are not eligible for the scheme.
According to Siddaramaiah, 13 million women have so far enrolled for the scheme so far. The state government has earmarked ₹17,500 crore for the programme in the current financial year and around ₹32,000 crore next year.
This is the fourth guarantee being launched after Shakti, Anna Bhagya and Gruha Jyothi. The fifth guarantee is the ‘Yuva Nidhi’ scheme that promises to provide unemployment allowance to the state’s youth.