BPL Card Holders on Alert: Government to Cancel 14 Lakh BPL Cards
After already removing lakhs of ineligible beneficiaries from the BPL list, the government has now prepared another list containing more than 1.4 million ineligible BPL cardholders.
BPL Card Holders: The Karnataka government has launched a fresh drive against ineligible BPL (Below Poverty Line) cardholders. After already removing lakhs of ineligible beneficiaries from the BPL list, the government has now prepared another list containing more than 1.4 million ineligible BPL cardholders.
Amid discussions on revising major welfare schemes, including Gruha Lakshmi and Gruha Jyothi, changes may also be introduced to the Anna Bhagya scheme. To ensure that only eligible families receive BPL card benefits, the government is continuing its efforts to identify and remove ineligible beneficiaries.
Food and Civil Supplies Minister K.H. Muniyappa have made an important statement regarding the upcoming changes under the Anna Bhagya scheme. He said that Karnataka currently has more than 1.3 to 1.4 million ineligible BPL cardholders and that a list of such beneficiaries has already been prepared. Their names will soon be removed from the BPL category.
The government had earlier appealed to ineligible BPL cardholders to voluntarily convert their cards to APL (Above Poverty Line) cards. However, lakhs of beneficiaries have not yet made the switch. Since the list of ineligible beneficiaries is now ready, the government will soon cancel the BPL cards of those found to be ineligible, the minister said.
Karnataka currently has around 1.51 crore ration cards, benefiting more than 5.23 crore people across the state. Of these, about 1.14 crore are BPL (Below Poverty Line) cards, 10.68 lakh are Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) cards meant for the poorest families, and 25.62 lakh are APL (Above Poverty Line) cards.
According to Food and Civil Supplies Minister K. H. Muniyappa, the state has nearly 1.28 crore BPL and AAY cardholders, one of the highest proportions among southern states. As part of its ongoing verification drive, the Karnataka government has identified 13–14 lakh ineligible BPL cardholders and is planning to either cancel their cards or convert them to APL cards to ensure that welfare benefits reach only eligible beneficiaries.
