Govt to raise income cap of BPL category?

 Hyderabad: The State government is considering raising the income limit of BPL category, with the decision likely to be taken in the Cabinet meeting on January 4.

Speaking to Hans India, Civil Supplies Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy while acknowledging that the matter was under consideration, said that the enhancement of the income limit of BPL category would be discussed in the upcoming Cabinet meeting. “This issue is slated to be discussed in the cabinet meeting on January 4,” he said.

The income limit for the eligibility of the BPL families presently is Rs 1.5 lakh for rural, ownership of 3.5 acres of wet land or 7.5 acres of dry land in rural areas and annual income limit of Rs 2 lakh in urban areas. It is likely to be enhanced by Rs 50,000. If this materialises, it would be a major decision which is likely to impact the welfare schemes and various programmes of the State government.

The officials who have been studying the implementation of the scheme and issuance of BPL cards already examined the scheme in various states including Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Goa, besides Gujarat, Odisha and Maharashtra. During the deliberations in the meetings, some opined that the State might adopt the Gujarat pattern where both rural and urban BPL families have the same income limit of Rs 1.8 lakh per annum. Similarly Kerala, Goa and Tamil Nadu have uniform income limits for BPL criteria.

Whereas in AP, the income limit for rural is Rs 1.2 lakh and for urban, it is Rs 1.44 lakh.

The cabinet sub-committee on new ration cards with Uttam Kumar Reddy as chairman and Ministers Damodar Raja Narasimha and Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy as its members held multiple meetings till now for the past one year.

The Minister in the recently concluded monsoon session of the Assembly explained that the state government would use data from the recent caste census survey to finalise eligibility for the new ration cards. Various proposals including the recommendations, based on the Sachchidananda Saxena Committee guidelines, as well as input from MLAs, MLCs, and MPs, have been submitted to the state cabinet for approval.