Bangalore: Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy has said that the State Government will take stringent action against those responsible for what has been described as a "BPL card scandal" in the State.

After a detailed one-to-one discussion with the deputy commissioners and the chief executive officers from 26 of the 27 districts, the Chief Minister told presspersons that the number of applicants for BPL cards had touched 93 lakh while the total number of families in Karnataka was 1.02 crore.

This meant that the undeserving had also applied for BPL cards and that some families had applied for more than one card. Further, the authorities were yet to receive applications from the Bangalore agglomeration.

Mr. Kumaraswamy said that this situation had arisen "thanks to the steps taken by the previous Congress -JD(S) Government which opted for a re-issue of the BPL cards".

If the State Government were to accept all applications for BPL cards then the burden on the State would increase to Rs. 1,100 crore. While the number of applications for BPL cards was 55 per cent in excess of the population in the districts of Udupi and Uttara Kannada, it was in excess by over 85 per cent in all the other districts.

The Chief Minister said deputy commissioners had been directed to ensure completion of six lakh houses for the poor by March end.

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