Bengaluru: In a detailed clarification on observations made by the comptroller and auditor general (CAG) on the Gruha Lakshmi scheme, the women and child development department Thursday asserted the programme is being implemented transparently and in accordance with prescribed rules.Responding to audit findings related to payments made to deceased and allegedly ineligible beneficiaries, the department, in a detailed response, said the observations largely stemmed from delays in updating beneficiary records and technical issues in banking systems rather than flaws in implementation.The department said nearly 2.9 lakh registered beneficiaries had died since the scheme’s launch and Rs 115 crore had been credited to accounts of nearly 1.1 lakh deceased beneficiaries due to delays in receiving death information. It said it has already recovered Rs 15.2 crore through coordination with banks and the process of recovering the remaining amount is under way.The department said 1.9 lakh women identified as income taxpayers or GST return filers through the Kutumba database are being excluded from payments. It also clarified that cases where multiple beneficiaries appeared linked to a single bank account were largely due to joint accounts held by eligible family members such as mothers and daughters or mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law with separate ration cards.Addressing another audit observation, it said beneficiaries are free to change Aadhaar-linked bank accounts, which could result in payments being reflected in different accounts across different months. It attributed some discrepancies in account details to narration and technical errors at banks.As of April 2026, the scheme had 1.3 crore registered beneficiaries, each of whom receive Rs 2,000 every month.On Wednesday, opposition BJP sought an independent probe into an alleged scam after CAG flagged anomalies involving more than Rs 108 crore in payments linked to shared or missing bank account details under the flagship welfare scheme.
