Bengaluru: It’s a familiar story, but a different exercise: huge apartment complexes with locked houses, and residents staying overseas. This is the crux of the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The story is annoyingly similar in the audit of Gruha Jyothi verification drive, slowing the state’s effort to weed out ineligible beneficiaries under the flagship free electricity scheme.With the Aug 30 deadline looming, the verification drive has audited nearly 55% of the state’s 1.6 crore-plus beneficiaries ever since its launch on July 1, though locked houses have emerged as one of the biggest roadblocks.The drive started after the state govt decided to remove ineligible beneficiaries, including those allegedly registered as voters in other states while availing benefits in Karnataka. The exercise involves linking beneficiaries’ voter ID details with their electricity connections to ensure that only eligible households continue to receive free power.Since meter readers and Escom officials have been deployed for the exercise, regular monthly meter readings were suspended. Consumers were issued average electricity bills based on their consumption over the previous three months.Reviewing the progress of the drive on a daily basis, senior Bescom officials said although electricity meters are installed at centralised locations in flats, every beneficiary must be physically present to fill out the declaration form, have their photograph taken and upload the details through the mobile application.“Most apartment residents are away at work during the day, while some simply do not turn up despite repeated visits. This makes it difficult to complete the verification in a single visit,” a meter reader in Bengaluru said. “Our meter readers have been leaving messages with neighbours about absentee citizens, but to no avail,” a senior Bescom engineer said.Several consumers narrated a different experience. “No meter reader visited our house this month. We received an average electricity bill through the app. When we contacted Bescom, we were asked to visit a kiosk for verification. But Bescom’s communication had clearly stated that officials would visit every beneficiary’s doorstep,” said a beneficiary from Jambu Savari Dinne in JP Nagar. A resident from Soladevanahalli echoed a similar concern. “Officials were sitting at a nearby teashop and residents had to go there with documents,” the consumer alleged.Bescom managing director N Shivashankara said there would be no tolerance for staff failing to conduct doorstep verification. “Consumers can lodge a complaint through Bescom helpline, and we will take action,” he said.About locked houses, Shivashankara said officials make at least two visits. “We’re examining how to handle such cases: should they be asked to visit the division office or should we have a new mechanism. We’ll discuss this with the energy minister and the govt before a decision is made,” he said.Inset Box: Performance Of Escoms In Gruhajyothi Verification ( Table has been shared via E-mail)
