Karnataka: Rich may misuse self-declaration for BPL cards, says UT Khader

Mangaluru: Food and Civil Supplies Minister U.T. Khader admitted on Monday that the government’s decision to issue BPL cards based on self-declaration of income could be misused, but defended it in any case.

While the cards are supposed to be issued to only those with income less than Rs 1.20 lakh a year, the minister admitted that some rich could also now apply for them giving a false declaration. “Among the 100 applicants there may be some 10 rich. But to keep them away, we cannot keep the remaining 90 waiting. We have heard of officials demanding electricity bills of three and ten months from people applying for BPL cards to verify if they are really poor. This should not be done. We cannot make the poor wait for months for a ration card. Officials should consider the income declared by the applicants and issue them the cards,” he insisted.

The minister, who was speaking to reporters, added that a random inquiry would be held after a year to weed out the false applicants from the genuine.

“If the rich are enjoying the benefits of BPL cardholders, they will be identified during the random inquiry, which will be conducted in a year by our officials. Such persons will have to repay the benefits they enjoyed and a case will be booked against them,” he said.

While the food department will rely on the revenue department to verify the applicants’ income, its data too may not be accurate in many cases, say sources in the department. “There are chances that the rich applicant may not be caught as the department will conduct only a random inquiry,” they point out.

Activist Shashidhar Shetty warns the new method of distribution of BPL cards could prove a drain on the state’s resources and calls for a more scientific system to identify the beneficiaries.