GULBARGA: Scores of poor families in the State are facing the threat of losing the facility of getting food grains at subsidised rates through the Public Distribution System. This is on account of the norms fixed for selection of Below Poverty Line (BPL) families and re-categorisation of BPL and Above Poverty Line (APL) families.

The Government, which has completed the survey of the BPL and APL families, has started issuing ration cards based on the earlier norms. Denial of BPL ration cards and re-categorisation of families getting subsidised food grains into APL families have sparked concern.

In Gulbarga, which has been categorised as the most backward district with a huge chunk of BPL families in many surveys and the human development index, distribution of BPL and APL ration cards has begun. Out of the 6.74 lakh BPL and APL cards to be issued, more than 5.76 lakh cards have been distributed.

Following complaints regarding re-categorisation of families, the Government has opened grievances cells in all taluks to receive complaints and conduct a resurvey of the status of the families. Nearly 40,000 complaints have been received at these grievance cells.

Deputy Commissioner Pankajkumar Pandey told The Hindu that grievances regarding issuance of separate ration cards for those in divided families and leaving out of names from cards already issued would be settled on the spot and corrections made in the cards immediately.

Mr. Pandey said a re-survey would be conducted to verify the complaints regarding re-categorisation. If the complaints were found to be genuine, BPL cards would be issued to the families immediately, he said.

Maruti Manpade, president of Karnataka Rajya Pranta Raita Sangha and State secretariat member of the CPI(M), told The Hindu that more than 25 lakh families enjoying the BPL card facility would be deprived of subsidised ration facility owing to the re-categorisation of families and the strict rules being followed in the survey for identifying the BPL families.

Mr. Manpade said that in Aland taluk in Gulbarga district alone, 11,000 families had been re-categorised as APL families and denied of BPL cards. In Gulbarga district, more than 80,000 families would be deprived of BPL cards this time.

During the survey, the families living in roofed houses other than huts and those with more than one working member have been categorised as APL families. Those having television sets have also been removed from the BPL list.

The Government should immediately order a resurvey of the process of issuing ration cards to BPL and APL families, relax the norms for selecting the BPL families and raise the annual income limit from the present Rs. 12,000 to Rs. 25,000.

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