Gram panchayats authorised to issue BPL certificates

Shimla, Jul 28 (UNI) In order to facilitate the issuance of BPL certificates to Below Poverty Line (BPL) families at the panchayat level, the Himachal Pradesh Government has decided to authorize the concerned gram panchayat to issue these certificates to the identified families.

It has also been decided that the certificate would be issued in the name of head of family and the names of other family members would also be mentioned in the certificate so that the other members of poor families may use the certificate for the benefits meant for BPL families, an official spokesman said in a release here.

He said the BPL certificate would be issued by the panchayat secretary or panchayat sahayak as per the latest BPL list approved by the gram sabha after making proper entries in the record and would be countersigned by the gram panchayat pradhan.

The BPL certificate would be issued to the applicant immediately by the panchayat secretary/panchayat sahayak after receipt of application but if it was not possible to provide the certificate immediately due to unavoidable circumstances, the panchayat secretary/panchayat sahayak would ensure the issuance of BPL certificate within a period of three days after the receipt of application.

The spokesman said the instructions in this regard have been issued to all the Deputy Commissioners and Block Development Officers.

UNI AS HS MMS1810