The scrutiny of people having BPL status cards is taken up seriously by the Government of Haryana. Recent findings have shown that a large number of the persons listed as BPL beneficiaries have not collected rations or availed any government benefits for quite a few months.
Such serious developments have prompted the government to prepare lists for the removal of such names from the official records.
Thousands of Cardholders Under Fire
Over 325,000 Below Poverty Line (BPL) cardholders in Haryana have not been taking the benefits of rations or any other welfare schemes for a long time. This led the authorities to suspect that many of the cards were fake or that some of these people really do not deserve to be called poor. Some people have made these cards only to take unfair advantage of benefits meant for the truly needy, explained an officer.
Monthly Review of Ration Cards
A verification process of the BPL ration cards by the state government occurs on the 1st of every month. This review, done every month, helps the government to keep track of how many persons have been added to or removed from the BPL list. It also ensures that only deserving families obtain the benefits.
Today, yet another review is taking place on May 1st. The review could strike off from the list the names of persons who have not been active users of ration or other schemes. Inactive or possibly fake cardholders may very well get weeded out of the system.
Last Month Small Reduction
A minuscule decrease was observed in the number of BPL cards in the last assessment conducted between March 1 and April 1. At the beginning of the month, there were 51,97,984 BPL cards in the state. By April 1, the number had dropped slightly to 51,96,380, a decrease of just 1,604 cards. However, this count is likely to be higher this time due to considerable suspected non-beneficiary cardholders.
From this data, we get almost all beneficiaries and state populations. Over 51.96 lakh BPL families exist in Haryana from now onwards. Nearly 1.97 crore individuals are considered beneficiaries using some government benefit formula. About three crores would be the population estimated for all of Haryana.
Pensions Granted for Cases Pending
Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Saini has also granted the release of social security pensions to around 57,700 people who have been denied pensions for the past 3-4 months due to various delays. The payments include old pending pensions as well as new approvals now handed out, bringing some relief to the elderly needy.
What This Means for BPL Cardholders
The cleaning of the system should be done by the government now, so that it reaches the deserving. Either people who have not been utilizing their BPL cards or those who have used them by fraudulent means might soon be taken off the list. This also intends to create space for those who are truly needy and waiting for assistance.
The proceeding days will disclose the number of names that will finally be removed from the BPL list as the government strives towards establishing a more transparent and equitable system.
