BPL cards: K'taka Govt to withdraw powers of GPs

Karkala, Karnataka, Mar 18 (UNI) The Karnataka Government has decided to withdraw the powers given to gram panchayats in the selection of beneficiaries in the Below Poverty Line (BPL) family category, Food and Civil Supplies Minister Govinda Karjol said today.

Addressing newspersons here, he said the Government had also decided to open ration shops for every 500 ration cardholders. Among the proposed shops, 15 per cent would be given to people from Scheduled Castes, five per cent to Scheduled Tribes and the remaining through cooperative societies. The Deputy Commissioner concerned would be authorised to issue the license, he added.

The Minister said there was no laid down policy that the LPG cylinder for household purposes should be supplied by the supplier only after 21 days as now practised by every dealer. The State Government had written a letter to them, seeking to supply LPG cylinders on need based system, he added.

Earlier, addressing reporers in Mangalore last evening, Mr Karjol hinted that he had instructed the officials to register police cases under the Essential Food Articles Act against those misusing LPG cylinders meant for household purposes and increase the number of raids. To arrest using LPG cylinders in vehicles, cases would be booked and cylinders and vehicles seized as against the present system of filing cases and recovering only cylinders.

Commercial use of cylinder, which was at 1,500 in 2004-05, had increased to 3,000 in 2005-06 and further risen to 25,000 in 2006-07, he noted.

Referring to the BPL ration card scheme, the Minister said the cards, in future, would be restricted to only availing foodstuff and not for using as an yardstick to get benefits under various schemes.

This step had been taken by the Government following increased misuse and abuse of BPL cards.

UNI