Infrastructure Lag and Staff Shortages Stall Karnataka’s Gruha Jyothi Audit

The Karnataka Energy Department is struggling to meet a looming August 31 deadline as technical errors and limited manpower hamper door-to-door electricity subsidy checks. Only 45 lakh out of 1.65 crore beneficiaries have been verified since the initiative began on July 1.

By Project Chintan Newsroom

26 July 2026 · 1 min read

Infrastructure Lag and Staff Shortages Stall Karnataka’s Gruha Jyothi Audit

System Overload Hinders Field Operations

Technical bottlenecks in the Seva Sindhu portal have brought the door-to-door verification for the Gruha Jyothi scheme to a crawl. Although the project launched on July 1, 2026, officials report that less than 30% of the 1.65 crore beneficiary pool has been reached. In Bengaluru, where the Bescom jurisdiction covers 65 lakh households, 40 lakh homes still await verification.

Energy Department leadership attributes the sluggish performance to heavy traffic on the Seva Sindhu platform. The site manages data for various initiatives, including the Shakti scheme, Gruha Lakshmi, and health services, alongside Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) Khata issuances. This centralized volume frequently causes the application to crash. Field reports from residents in Malleshpalya and Chandra Layout confirm that meter readers often abandon visits mid-process because the internal app fails to load data, forcing staff to schedule repeat appointments.

Manpower Deficit and Voluntary Opt-Outs

The state has deployed a workforce of 21,602 meter readers to handle the logistics, with 7,409 assigned to the Bescom area. To meet the August 31 deadline, these employees are currently working weekends and extended hours. Despite this effort, the disparity between the staff count and the volume of unvisited homes remains vast.

Internal government data reveals a surprising trend during this audit. Approximately 20,000 citizens who were previously receiving the electricity subsidy have chosen to withdraw from the scheme. These individuals have signed 'Part B' of the verification forms, which explicitly authorizes the state to discontinue the benefit for their specific connection.