Times of India: Ahmedabad:
Friday, January 31, 2014.
Gujarat high
court on Thursday issued notice to the Ahmedabad Municipal Commissioner seeking
explanation regarding anomalies in the civic body's list of Below Poverty Line
(BPL) families.
The court has
sought answer within 15 days and kept further hearing on this subject next
month. The notice was issued in response to a PIL filed by NGO Ambedkar Karvan
demanding cancellation of the present BPL list, which was prepared by the civic
body in 2008.
Petitioner's
counsel Ratna Vora urged the court to ask the authorities to prepare a fresh
list by taking into consideration various socio-economic aspects. She submitted
that AMC prepared 2,43,038 white BPL cards, but as many as 78,039 cards have
remained undelivered till date. This reflects that the data gathered were not
authentic, and there are various 'bhutia' or bogus cards in existence.
Citing
information obtained under the RTI laws, the PIL has contended that many
well-to-do families have found place in the BPL list, while many poor families
are excluded. While widows with non-male earning members do not figure in the
list, there is 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 PIL has
questioned the criteria of monthly income of Rs 501.14 per person for inclusion
in BPL list and termed it absurd. It has claimed that AMC's list is not dynamic
in nature, and it requires regular exclusion and inclusion of members. It also
demands formation of an expert committee to supervise preparation of the draft
BJP list.
.JPG)
.JPG)
