The last mile is uphill

Think of the countless migrants that rush to Bengaluru (and other cities in India) seeking livelihoods. In the city, they are on survival mode and ironically are unable to benefit from any of the grand schemes planned by the Government for their security. There are many reasons for this.

Workers have no information about these schemes, don’t know where to seek it and in the last mile don’t know how to avail them. The procedures are long winding requiring digital access and skills. None of which exists withr them.

More significantly many of these schemes are not portable!

This leads to a yawning gap between the State’s intent and actual implementation.

So, what are the basket schemes offered?

Central schemes like Ayushman Bharat PM JAY, One Nation One Ration Card and PM JAN DHAN YOJANA can be accessed in theory from anywhere in the country.

Scheme	What it gives	Open to families from other states?
Gruha Lakshmi	₹2,000 a month to the woman head of family	Only with a Karnataka ration card
Anna Bhagya	State top-up on the Centre’s rice; in October 2025 the state decided to switch to a food kit	Tied to a Karnataka BPL card
Gruha Jyothi	Up to 200 free units of electricity a month	Needs a domestic connection linked to Aadhaar
Shakti	Free travel for women on non-luxury state-run buses	At launch, women were asked to show ID with a Karnataka address
Yuva Nidhi	₹3,000 a month for unemployed graduates, ₹1,500 for diploma holders	No: Karnataka domicile only

Sources: Seva Sindhu guarantee portal, Yuva Nidhi order (2023), Deccan Herald.

The labour card for construction workers

For families where someone works on building sites, the key Karnataka scheme is the labour card (Karmika card) from the Karnataka Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board, and it is open to workers from other states: 18,865 were registered in August 2025.

Gig and platform workers

Karnataka’s Platform-Based Gig Workers Act, 2025 registers gig workers with a unique ID, and a welfare board funded by a 1–5% fee on platform payouts is to run insurance, medical, maternity and old-age schemes. No scheme amounts were published at our check.

How Gubbachi helps families in Bengaluru claim entitlements

Our Janadhikara project now works on documentation, social-security awareness, health, financial literacy, and women’s and youth empowerment in Bengaluru’s IT corridor and peri-urban settlements.

• 2024-25: 30 entitlement camps across 24 communities, with 1,353 applications and 1,034 approvals, plus 1,578 new household surveys to find families in need.

• 2023-24: 1,048 Aadhaar cards, 448 labour or e-Shram cards, 503 ABHA health accounts and 210 bank accounts, with the School Support Initiative.

Our track record last year (2025-26) was heartening.

75% approval rate for the 1000+ applications to secure Building & Other Construction Workers (BoCW) schemes.

A Senior Labour Inspector in Bengaluru noted our 2024-25 Annual Report that Gubbachi has worked with the Labour Department for years to make it happen for the workers.

One corrected Aadhaar can open several schemes. The possibilities are immense when all documentation is accessed as they are supposed to.