AG flags irregularities in Gruha Lakshmi scheme implementation

The Accountant General (AG), Karnataka, has flagged several irregularities in the implementation of the State government’s flagship Gruha Lakshmi scheme, including payments to beneficiaries sharing the same bank account, repeated changes in bank account details, and disbursals made without bank account information being recorded.

The observations were part of an audit review of data provided by the Directorate of Women and Child Development and analysed by the AG’s Data Analytics Wing.

One of the key findings relates to 19,020 beneficiaries who were found to be sharing bank account numbers. According to the audit, 3.03 lakh successful payments amounting to ₹60.69 crore were made to such beneficiaries across different months. Of these, 8,995 payments worth about ₹1.8 crore were made to beneficiaries sharing the same account during the same payment month. The audit noted that such duplicate instances pose a risk of potential irregularities.

Changes in accounts

The AG also found that more than 10 lakh beneficiary records reflected multiple changes in bank account details. A total of 10,06,308 records showed beneficiaries changing their bank accounts more than once, prompting the audit to seek further clarification from the department.

Another observation related to payments made despite the absence of bank account details. The audit found that 23,262 payments amounting to approximately ₹46.52 crore had been processed without bank account numbers being captured in the system. It asked the department to explain how such transactions were carried out.

Gaps in data sharing

The audit further pointed to gaps in data sharing by the Centre for e-Governance (EDCS), stating that key records, including the beneficiary database, details of ineligible beneficiaries and online complaints received under the scheme, had not been provided to the AG’s Data Analytics Cell despite repeated requests.

The report also noted that the department had failed to furnish details of beneficiaries deleted from the scheme, including beneficiary IDs, dates of deletion and reasons for removal, despite repeated reminders from the audit team.

No action earlier

In a separate observation, the AG’s report said action had not been initiated on issues earlier flagged during an audit review of the scheme. The AG’s office had formally handed over a list of cases requiring field-level verification to the Women and Child Development Department at a meeting chaired by the department Secretary on January 1, 2026.

According to the audit, the department had agreed to verify the cases and submit a compliance report by January 31, 2026. However, no action had been initiated and the identified cases had not even been forwarded to district authorities for verification.