Cyber Centres swindle ‘Gruha Jyothi’ applicants

Operators of private Cyber Cafes collecting Rs. 100 to Rs. 150 as service charge

Mysore/Mysuru: Even as the process of submitting applications under ‘Gruha Jyothi’ scheme has opened to a mixed response, with heated discussions still being heard over its pros and cons, there has been a rise in the number of applicants too.

Amid this, the general public eager to cash in on the scheme are complaining about the Cyber Centres charging Rs. 100 to Rs. 150 for uploading the applications, for whom the Government schemes have turned into a new-found way to make some windfall.

Across the district, people are thronging these Centres in big numbers and those running them are swindling people, misusing the opportunity, with none to rein in them. The people with copies of key documents like Aadhaar card, PAN card, ration card and electricity bill can be seen waiting in queue outside these Centres. But they have to face several hurdles due to slow server, till their work is completed, leaving aside their other engagements.

Token system

Earlier, when the process of submitting applications began, Government-owned KarnatakaOne, GramaOne and Electricity Supply Companies (Escoms) Offices provided free service without collecting any fee. Later, the Government passed instructions to collect a nominal fee of Rs. 20 towards the service charge. But still, there are Centres where Rs. 50 to Rs. 70 is collected without giving any acknowledgement to process the application. But here, token will be issued to applicants to provide the service on ‘first come first serve’ basis. To avoid this, some people turn towards Cyber Centres who have been making a killing, complain many.

On the other hand, staff at Cyber Centres have been doing all on their own — from filling the application format to calling the concerned to collect One Time Password (OTP), to complete the process. Amid this, people coming for other services like seeding their Aadhaar number with PAN are also causing further delay in the service of Gruha Jyothi applicants. The Cyber Centres have been witnessing a mad rush, but still the Officers have turned a blind eye.

Package to apply

It is also learnt that, some of the Cyber Centres offer a package seeking money and documents to be ready to apply for yet to be launched Gruha Lakshmi and Yuva Nidhi schemes.

Rein in Cyber Centres

Though there is no deadline to apply for the schemes, the people believing in speculations have been making a beeline towards Cyber Centres, only to get their work done by processing the applications, not bothered about shelling the money. If the Officers take note of the situation and issue instructions, the situation may ease, the people feel.

Over 60 lakh applications

A total of 60,95,631 electricity consumers have applied for free 200 units of power till June 26, under Gruha Jyothi scheme across the State comprising six Electricity Supply Companies (Escoms).