Bangalore: The State Government seems to be fighting shy of taking any decision for the present on the controversial issue of Below Poverty Line (BPL) ration cards, which has seen protests across the State.

It is not prepared to take any measure, least of all, one as sensitive as that of ration cards, until the completion of the byelection to the Assembly from the Chamundeshwari constituency on December 4.

Postponed

One indication of this is the postponement of a high-level meeting of Deputy Commissioners and other officials to be held at the Vidhana Soudha on Monday to look into anomalies in identification of people for BPL cards and their distribution.

Though the official reason cited for the postponement of the meeting is a "practical problem" in getting all Deputy Commissioners together on the scheduled date, official sources say the real reason is the Government's reluctance to take any tough stand on the issue right now.

The proposal by the Food and Civil Supplies Department that BPL cards should be used only for food distribution and not to identify beneficiaries of government schemes such as Ashraya, Bhagyalakshmi and Yashaswini, has not found favour with the Chief Minister and the Deputy Chief Minister, it is learnt.

Applications

The department has identified 64.80 lakh families for BPL cards and Antyodaya Annadana Yojane. But it has received 52 lakh grievance applications, most of them seeking inclusion in these two categories.

The extended process of verifying these applications, "if things are taken up immediately and happen at rocket speed", say sources, will take close to two months. Adding to the problems is the fact that village accountants, who are entrusted with the responsibility of verification, are showing reluctance to start work. They are seeking special remuneration, while the Government is not willing to make an allocation for this since it is considered part of their duty.

Hurdles

The department has set April 2007 as the deadline for distribution of permanent laminated ration cards with photographs. But with so many hurdles along the way and the Government dithering on the issue, it remains to be seen if the deadline can be met.

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