The new Congress-led government in Karnataka on Monday released the detailed guidelines for providing free electricity and free bus travel for women, as promised in its election manifesto. This will be done with the implementation of the Gruha Jyothi Scheme and the Shakthi Scheme.
Guidelines Gruha Jyothi Scheme
As per the order issued by the Karnataka Energy Department, free power supply will be provided to households with an upper limit of 200 units, which will be dependent on the monthly average consumption.
The average consumption will be calculated based on the power used by a household in 2022-23.
The scheme is for only domestic connections and the beneficiaries must apply on the Seva Sindhu portal to avail the free electricity.
This is an Aadhaar-linked scheme as the customer IDs will be linked to Aadhaar numbers.
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The government will provide free power up to 10 percent more than the average monthly usage. For instance, if the monthly average usage of a domestic household is 100 units of electricity, then up to 110 units of free electricity will be provided under the scheme.
In case the consumers exceed the limit, they will have to pay for the excess units used. The excess consumption will be reflected as the ‘net bill’ for such consumers in the bills generated from the month of August.
In case users have more than one power connection under their name, the scheme will be applicable to only one of the connections.
Guidelines for the Shakti Scheme
Along with women, transgenders can also avail the benefits under the Shakti Scheme, which will come into effect from June 11. The free bus ride will be available only for women with Karnataka domicile.
As per the guidelines issued by the State Transport Department for the first three months, beneficiaries must show their government-issued photo IDs and address proof to get zero-fare tickets.
After three months, they must obtain Shakti smartcards through an application process on the Seva Sindh website.
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All beneficiaries will be able to travel free of cost only within the state and not in any inter-state buses.
The scheme can be availed in the buses operated by Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC), North West Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (NWKRTC), Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC), and Kalyana Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (KKRTC).
All luxury buses have been excluded from the scheme.
Further, about 50 percent of seats will be reserved for men in KSRTC, NWKRTC and KKRTC buses.
(Edited by : Sudarsanan Mani)
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