MYSURU
In line with the monthly assistance of ₹2,000 offered to women heads of families in the State under the Congress government’s Gruha Lakshmi scheme, Minister for Women and Child Development Laxmi Hebbalkar has made an offering of ₹1.18 lakh, accounting for ₹2,000 for the next 59 months.
Congress MLC Dinesh Gooli Gowda visited the Chamundeshwari Temple atop Chamundi Hills and handed over the cheque to the temple authorities before collecting the receipt dated November 27, 2023, issued in the name of Ms. Hebbalkar.
After the Congress government launched the Gruha Lakshmi scheme at a mammoth rally in Mysuru on August 30 by making the first offering of ₹2,000 to the deity of Chamundeshwari at the temple atop Chamundi Hills, Mr. Gooligowda wrote to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar to continue paying ₹2,000 to deity every month.
Responding to the letter, Mr. Siddaramaiah and Mr. Shivakumar instructed Ms. Hebbalkar to take necessary steps in the matter. Now, Ms. Hebbalkar has made the offering of ₹1.18 lakh out of her personal money to account for the remaining 59 months of the government’s five-year tenure.
In a statement, Ms. Hebbalkar said she had personally offered the rest of the amount of 59 instalments to goddess Chamundeshwari and Mr. Gooligowda had offered the amount on her behalf.
A total of 1.17 crore women head of families in the State had so far registered for the scheme, which seeks to ensure financial empowerment of women.
Pointing out that the money was being directly transferred to the bank accounts of 1.1 crore women beneficiaries, the statement said the government had already released ₹11,200 crore under the scheme. “Every month, ₹2,100 crore is deposited into the accounts of the women beneficiaries. So far, a total of ₹6,000 crore has been deposited,” she said.
Saying that the Congress government had launched four out of the five guarantee schemes even before completing 100 days in office, Ms. Hebbalkar assured that the government will continue all the schemes for all the five years of the term. She called upon the public not to believe the “propaganda” by Opposition parties that the schemes will be discontinued after a few months. “We are confident that the Congress will come back to power even in 2028 and further continue the schemes,” she said.
