From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru
Bengaluru, Aug 29: State Government employees having below poverty line (BPL) cards?
Yes. If you have the right connections and the inclination to cut corners, anything is possible.
Karnataka Food and Civil Supplies Department has found families of 150 government employees possessing below poverty line (BPL) ration cards illegally during the drive to weed out bogus BPL ration cards in the State.
The department, which launched the drive to eliminate bogus ration cards two weeks ago, found 16,300 bogus BPL ration cards across the State.
The department has collected fine of Rs 7 lakh from families possessing illegal BPL cards.
The department has extended deadline for two more months to families to remit illegal BPL cards voluntarily.
Karnataka’s Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao told presspersons on Saturday that an officer in the Animal Husbandry department in Chennagiri was found guilty in possessing BPL cards and penalty was imposed.
Many APL families, including government employees, secured BPL cards since holding such cards make them to eligible to avail benefits under various schemes, including claiming health insurance.
Illegal possession of ration cards would be unearthed through collecting information of families owning four wheelers from RTO offices and examining residential addresses, he said.
Out of 1.31 crore families in the State, more than a crore families (1.10 crore) are living BPL category and they secured BPL ration cards.
The department has stepped a drive to crackdown bogus BPL cards to ensure subsidised food items to eligible beneficiaries.
The minister said he had instructed food inspectors and owners of over 20,000 ration shops to crackdown bogus ration cards.
The existing Act to be amended to file criminal cases against families holding illegal BPL cards, he said.
Families secured BPL cards for obtaining monthly subsidised rations under the public distribution system. In some districts, nearly 90 per cent of households are living BPL category.
Only 11.77 lakh families had secured above poverty line (APL) cards.
The department has received 9.64 lakh applications seeking BPL and APL ration cards and 22,000 cards have been issued to beneficiaries, he said.