Times of India: Ahmedabad: Saturday, January 25, 2014.
A PIL was
filed in the Gujarat high court on Friday pointing at anomalies in the
Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation's list of Below Poverty Line (BPL) families.
Through the litigation, petitioner NGO Ambedkar Karvan has demanded
cancellation of the present BPL list, which was prepared by the civic body in
2008.
It has also
urged the court to direct the authorities to prepare a fresh list by taking
into consideration various socio-economic aspects. Ahmedabad Municipal
Corporation ( AMC) got ready 2,43,038 white BPL cards, but 78,039 of these have
remained undelivered till date. This showed that the data gathered for making the
list was not authentic, and there were various bogus cards in existence, the
petitioner said.
Citing
information obtained under RTI laws, the PIL contended that many well-to-do
families found place in the BPL list, while many poor families were excluded.
While widows with non-male earning member families do not figure in the list,
there was a place for families that own four wheelers. "The list prepared six years ago is
faulty, incomplete and unrealistic. Proper identification of urban poor is
necessary to target real beneficiary for the purpose of alleviation through
different development and employment programmes," the petitioner said.
The PIL
questioned the criteria of monthly income of Rs 501.14 per person for inclusion
in list and termed it absurd. It said AMC's list was not dynamic in nature, and
it required regular exclusion and inclusion. It demands formation of an expert
panel to supervise preparation of the draft BPL list. The HC sought to know
from petitioner about laws and rules under which list was prepared. Further
hearing is next week.
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