Bengaluru, May 21 (IANS) The Karnataka High Court on Thursday issued notices to the state government on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking directions for the release of pending payments under the state government’s flagship Gruhalakshmi scheme.

A division bench comprising Justice Dr K. Manmath Rao and Justice Suraj Govindaraj heard the matter and issued urgent notices to the state Finance Department and the Women and Child Development Department, directing them to file their objections and responses in the case.

The PIL was filed by Bengaluru residents R. Ganga of Kamalanagar and G.D. Pavitra of Nandini Layout, who alleged that beneficiaries had not received payments under the scheme for the past several months.

The petitioners urged the High Court to direct the state government to immediately release all pending instalments due under the Gruhalakshmi scheme.

Senior advocate Vikram Huilgol appeared on behalf of the petitioners during the hearing.

The petitioners’ counsel argued before the court that the state government had failed to effectively implement one of its major guarantee schemes despite allocating thousands of crores of rupees for the programme in the annual budget.

The counsel further submitted that the petitioners had not received any instalment payments under the Gruhalakshmi scheme from February 2025 till May 2026.

According to the petition, the issue was not confined to the two petitioners alone, but allegedly affected lakhs of eligible beneficiaries across Karnataka who had not received payments for several months.

“Even though the government has officially allocated funds for the Gruhalakshmi scheme in the state budget, the money is not reaching the beneficiaries’ bank accounts. The question is, where has the allocated money gone?” the counsel argued before the court.

The petitioners also requested the High Court to direct the state government to release all pending arrears to beneficiaries in a single instalment.

Taking serious note of the matter, the division bench sought an explanation from the state government regarding the delay in disbursal of benefits under the scheme and directed the concerned departments to clarify their stand on the issue.

The matter has now been posted for further hearing.

It may be noted that the Gruhalakshmi scheme is one of the flagship guarantee schemes launched by the Karnataka government under Chief Minister Siddaramaiah after the Congress came to power in the state in 2023.

Under the scheme, the woman head of an eligible household is provided financial assistance of Rs 2,000 per month through the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) mechanism.

The scheme has been one of the key welfare initiatives of the Congress government in Karnataka and was prominently highlighted during the Assembly election campaign in the state.

The PIL has now brought renewed attention to concerns regarding delays in fund disbursal and implementation of welfare schemes affecting beneficiaries across Karnataka.

–IANS

mka/pgh