While Karnataka’s Gruha Lakshmi programme is being called the world’s biggest direct benefit transfer (DBT) scheme for women, the backend operations to connect and communicate with the beneficiaries are quite arduous, News18 has found. Nearly 24 lakh people across Karnataka joined on Zoom links to directly interact with Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday during the launch of the scheme. The backend infrastructure supporting the Gruha Lakshmi programme established seamless connectivity via the videoconferencing platform.
This comprehensive setup spanned the entirety of Karnataka, linking all 31 districts, including taluka panchayats, gram panchayats, Zilla panchayats, and urban local bodies. It involved sharing links across these administrative bodies, enabling an extensive network connecting various locations seamlessly.
Gandhi arrived in Mysuru to launch the scheme and interacted with a number of beneficiaries who had gathered at 80 locations across Karnataka’s 31 districts to participate in this event. With the press of a button, the Congress leader also addressed over 40 lakh people across the state who had been connected live. The backend team was able to coordinate with 35- 40 lakh people, including those gathered via Zoom link IDs from 12,000 locations.
The Congress-led Karnataka government rolled out the Gruha Lakshmi scheme on Wednesday as part of the five poll promises made by the party during its 2023 assembly election campaign. This scheme aims to benefit 1.1 crore women who have registered under it, where they will receive a monthly payout. A sum of ₹32,000 crore annually has been allocated to support this plan.
Gandhi, along with Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah, deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar, and party president Mallikarjun Kharge made the first set of transfers to the bank accounts of women under Gruha Lakshmi. The state government will provide a Rs 2,000 monthly assistance to the woman head of each BPL family directly into her bank account.
News18 gives you a peek into how nearly 24 lakh viewers and 12,000 participants were brought live on a large screen.
Gandhi, Siddaramaiah, Shivakumar, Kharge, and other dignitaries were seated on the stage. A small white tent right next to it was buzzing with activity. A group of 50 members logged into over 35 laptops, busy connecting 31 districts of Karnataka, including taluka panchayats, gram panchayats, Zilla panchayats, and urban local bodies. Thousands were connected via Zoom links shared over 80 locations with 30 dedicated servers.
For bidirectional communication, the CM and his deputy strategically chose 70 to 80 locations for interaction. These hubs served as focal points for Gruha Lakshmi beneficiaries to engage in live conversations with Rahul Gandhi and other dignitaries.
“We shared the links to all these bodies and through these links, we were able to connect all the locations. We ensured that interaction with the CM, deputy CM, and other dignitaries was seamless and every participant got to see the Gruha Lakshmi event live and even got an opportunity to speak to Gandhi, the CM, and deputy CM directly. It was a Herculean task and we wanted to ensure everything was smooth and seamless,” said Janardhan Somany, the operations manager of this production.
In order to ensure that the videos were clear and people were seated with the proper background without any disturbance, the backend team constantly monitored the videos.
“To ensure video hygiene, we planned that the Zoom link was only shared with those who were directly involved with the scheme and the officials of the government bodies. Based on that, we ensured that it was not publicly available. That way, we were able to keep a tab on any misuse and a clean and neat interaction from Mysuru to the chosen location,” added the operations manager.
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