Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (SP)

Bengaluru, Mar 2: Karnataka stands fourth among richest states in the country and is placed seventh as far as the per capita income is concerned. The per capita income of the people in Karnataka is Rs 2.1 lac. All these figures project good image of Karnataka. But, the fact that 57 percent of the populace here are below poverty line has come as a surprise. As many as 10.93 lac families in the state are said to be living in abject poverty.

This image of the state is drawn on the basis of the BPL ration cards distributed by the state food and civil supplies department. Karnataka is third in terms of amount of tax paid to the union government. In this backdrop, doubt arises about the genuineness of the image of the state created by the ration cards.

Representational image

In fact, the per capita income of the people in Karnataka is increasing. It has gone up from 1.46 lac per annum in 2015-16 to 2.10 lac. Still, 57 % people (3.48 crore people) have declared that their annual income is less than Rs 1.20 lac. Among them, 10.93 lac families (beneficiaries under Antyodaya) have declared themselves to be very poor. After 2016-17, 21 percent have additionally declared themselves to be poor.

However, the real picture is not that bad. Many ineligible persons, by using loopholes in the distribution system of ration cards, have been misusing the benefits extended by these schemes, the department of food and civil supplies has found. The department has found that annually ration items worth Rs 300 crore is usurped by people who are not eligible for the same. Therefore, senior officials in the department have announced that steps would be taken to identify fake ration card holders and punish them.

Food and civil supplies minster, K Gopalayya, has called upon the ineligible people holding ration cards to return them by April failing which the officials will find them out and take steps to penalize them at the rate of Rs 28 per kg of rice supplied so far.

The department estimates that about 10 to 15 percent of ration card holders might have provided false income declaration. Therefore, the officials have begun e-KYC certification system of linking ration cards with Aadhaar cards.

Belagavi uses highest number of BPL ration cards (10.62 lac),while Mysuru with 6 .56 lac cards is in second place. Tumakuru with 6.13 lac cards is in the third spot.

There is a feeling that with the increase in income, the income limit of Rs 1.20 lac fixed to determine poverty has to be upwardly revised so that the people can come up with their real income. So far, 64,000 have returned their BPL cards and Rs 96 lac has been recovered from them as fine. If the actual number of poor people is found out, the state can save lot of revenue that is now going to people who are not eligible for it.