Food & Civil Supplies Minister K H Muniyappa.
Credit: DH Photo
Hubballi: Clarifying the BPL cards of those who do not draw ration would not be cancelled and they are allowed to use the cards for health schemes, Food & Civil Supplies Minister K H Muniyappa on Friday stated that the process of issuing PDS cards which was pending for one year has begun.
"Around 2.95 lakh applications are there for PDS cards and new cards are not issued since one year, while the majority of them claim as BPL families. With proper verification, approvals for the issue of cards are being given from today (Friday). BPL card holders who are not drawing ration are also allowed to use the card for health schemes," he said.
Claiming that more than 95 per cent of BPL card holders are getting money in lieu of 5 kg rice, Muniyappa noted that there are 1.08 crore BPL cards in the State, while the number of BPL cards getting Rs 170 per family member now is 1.03 crore, and verification is still on. Errors like one family having more than one BPL card are being traced, he said.
Charging that the Union Government played politics by refusing to supply additional rice required for the 'Anna Bhagya' scheme to give 10 kg rice per head per month for BPL families, the minister stated that efforts are on get rice from Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and other states. Ration shops are not getting the commission for the money being given directly to beneficiaries, and they will get that once we start giving additional rice. The deserving will get rice, while strict action will be taken against the misuse of PDS rice like selling it on the black market, he added.
Claiming that the chief minister has the ability to manage the finances while the government has the capacity to manage the drought situation, Muniyappa said more funds for development work will be available from next year, as over Rs 50,000 crore has been arranged for the implementation of guarantee schemes this time.
The government is committed to implement Sadashiva Commission report on internal reservation among Scheduled castes, while discussion will also be held on the caste census issue, he noted.
Refusing to comment on the issue of the possibility of change of the chief minister, he said the party's high command would decide all such things.