Around 52,000 women denied Gruha Lakshmi benefits in Karnataka due to tax records: Minister

Minister for Women and Child Development Laxmi Hebbalkar told the Legislative Council on February 2 that around 52,000 women in Karnataka were not getting assistance under the Gruha Lakshmi scheme as they were reflected as GST or income tax payers in official records.

Responding to concerns raised by BJP member PH Pujar about non-payment of Gruha Lakshmi benefits to many beneficiaries, the Minister said the issue arose because the beneficiary details were matched with the records of the GST and Income Tax Departments, which led to the suspension of payments under the scheme.

He said the issues faced by around 20,000 women of the affected beneficiaries have been resolved, while efforts are on to address the remaining cases.

It is not the ministry’s fault

Ms. Hebbalkar clarified that the Karnataka government and the Women and Child Development Department were not at fault. “The same information is reflected in the GST and income tax databases. We are trying to resolve the issue based on these records,” he said.

Noting that the Gruha Lakshmi scheme currently covers around 1.26 crore beneficiaries across Karnataka, the Minister explained that some women are engaged in small-scale business or financial transactions, resulting in their names appearing under GST or income tax categories even if their income is modest. Taxpayers will not be eligible for assistance under the terms of the program.

Software limits the scope for manual intervention

The Gruha Lakshmi scheme works through a proprietary software platform. He said that if the beneficiary is marked as a GST or income tax payer in the system, it is not possible to make corrections manually on the fly.

Describing the plan as a continuous process, Ms. Hebbalkar said the issue has already been brought to the notice of the Income Tax Department and the GST Council. The Karnataka government is taking steps to ensure that eligible women are not excluded due to technical or data-related issues.

He added that the remaining cases will be reviewed and resolved as soon as possible to ensure that benefits reach all eligible beneficiaries.