Residents and Slum staff during protest against BPL cancellation in Bengaluru 24 September | PHOTO CREDIT: SUDHAKARA JAIN
List 7.71 Lakh under the poverty cards (BPL) sent by the Union’s government, considered “suspicious false and duplicate card holders”, is verified by state sources by state to exclude unauthorized recipients.
However, the exercise has caused anxiety between real card holders and among those who are trying to maintain their benefits, even though they hold Bona Fide cards.
The state government has intensified its interventions against false cards and unfit recipients, with a wider goal of dismantling the agreement between the owners of fair price and those who create false cards.
“So far, we have ordered food inspectors to focus only on the list of Union’s government. It is a list of suspicious false and duplicate card holders and the state is verifying before issuing and terminating the cards,” said the source in the food, civil supply and consumer affairs department.
The list of possible unauthorized recipients is covered by the state under jurisdiction of 20,000 trades of fair price and 200 food inspectors. Officials preferred to detect duplicate and false cards, which have about 70,000 among identified cards of 7.71 lakhs.
“These 70,000 false cards basically mean that people hold cards in two places, whether in Karnataka or another state. We verify such cases both technically and manually, if required,” the source said. “In cases where there are duplicate cards, but the family is eligible, we remove one card and keep the other on the basis of residence,” the source added.
Implementation
However, activists point to gaps in this process. The department uses data on the Central Council of Direct Taxation (CBDT) to indicate families with an annual income greater than 1.2 Lakh, a threshold for BPL eligibility. It also relies on the local body data to identify families that own cars and are considering them above the poverty line (APL). Several BPL card holders claim that even if they have not received rations for more than three months due to technical defects, their cards are incorrectly converted to APL cards.
“This approach is wrong,” said the city activist. “Many families earn a little more than 12,000 GBP per month, but that is still not enough to satisfy everyday needs. The income ceiling was set in mid -2010, but with inflation, how can the same limit still apply to cancel?”
The shortcomings had the consequences in real life. Kamalamma, 60, West Bengalur resident, said she had received a notice of cancellation because the cumulative income of her three sons exceeded the BPL limit. “My sons live alone and do not support me, but their income is counted together,” she said. Similarly, the families of the cabin drivers were delivered a notice of the assumption that their own cars.
Another problem was faced by seniors whose biometric machines are not recognized by worn fingerprints. Although the government has ordered rationing trades to verify and deliver the income of Prague, activists claim that the measure has not been implemented correctly. As a result, families that are unable to collect rations are also reclassified as APL.
Department
The departments stated that five teams were created to carry out field visits and the assessment of ground reality during verification. They admitted that for technical reasons, incorrectly erase and accessories could occur, but families can submit applications with support documents to the local Tahsildar to be renewed in the BPL list.
“We also warned against disciplinary proceedings against food inspectors who deliberately eliminate eligible families from the list,” the source said. However, officials have acknowledged that this process is cumbersome for the poorest households that rely on monthly rations, emphasizing the need for a more robust system to avoid incorrect exclusion.
Published – 2 October 2025 06:40 is
