Food and Civil Supplies Minister K H Muniyappa.
Credit: DH Photo
Bengaluru: Food and Civil Supplies Minister K H Muniyappa clarified on Monday that none of the Below Poverty Line (BPL) cards will be cancelled, adding that only the ineligible ones will be moved to the (Above Poverty Line) APL list.
“BPL or APL cards have not been cancelled. They are politicising the issue. With 80 per cent BPL cards, Karnataka has the highest percentage in South India. Those ineligible for BPL will be moved to APL,” the minister said.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, echoing Muniyappa’s views, said that no eligible BPL card holders would lose out on the facilities. Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar accused the BJP of “politicising” the government’s decision to review BPL cardholders.
The ruling party leaders were forced to offer clarifications after the opposition BJP-JD(S) combine accused the Congress of removing eligible cardholders.
However, reports surfaced of some eligible card holders being pushed out of the BPL list. A source in the know told DH that due to some software updates, some genuine BPL card holders had also been moved to the APL list, but he assured that the issues would soon be resolved.
He said the segregation had already begun to ensure that taxpayers, government employees, and four-wheeler owners were excluded from the BPL list and instead added to the APL list.
The source noted that health cards are being provided to everyone, including those who don’t have APL and BPL cards.
As per statistics from the food department, the state has a whopping 4.35 crore BPL beneficiaries, the highest percentage in South India.
When these stats were publicised, the government had identified 13.87 lakh ineligible cards, of which 3.64 lakh had been cancelled.
In 2024-25, 1,48,533 new ration cards were distributed across the state, data from the department shows.
BYR defends govt’s move
While most of the NDA leaders slammed the Congress for the proposed move, Shimogga MP and former chief minister B S Yediyurappa’s son B Y Raghavendra backed the government’s decision to weed out ineligible card holders.
“This move is mandatory. For instance, in a taluk if there are 80,000 families, there are over 1 lakh families who have APL, BPL and Antyodaya cards. Instead of criticising the government, we should understand that such moves are needed for the country,” the Shimoga MP said.