Govt may seek Centre's help to redefine BPL list

In a bid to do away with confusion triggered due to issuance of contradictory notifications, the Jharkhand Government has decided to take recourse of the Centre’s norms for classification of the below poverty line (BPL) families.

A decision to this effect was taken at the all party meeting chaired by chief minister Sibu Soren in the assembly premises on Friday. Deputy Chief Minister Sudesh Mahato, who also holds the charge of Rural development department, has been assigned the task of taking prompt steps to clear the confusion and expedite the process for fresh survey of the BPL families.

It may be recalled that Chief secretary Shiv Basant has issued four different letters to different departments and the district headquarters in the last couple of months that contained different critaria for inclusion and exclusion of families in the BPL list. The letters were issued in the light of the first cabinet meeting held on December 30, in which the government decided to recast the list of BPL families.

Another deputy chief minister Raghubar Das said that the State government may approach the centre on the BPL issue and seek its guidelines for conducting fresh survey. Opposition leader Rajendra Prasad, who was also present in the meeting, said that the opposition leaders also pleaded for taking the Centre’s help in eradicating confusion and ensuring that the bonafide people were benefited from the scheme.

Sources maintained that Mahato, who had so far kept himself aloof in the matter, has stepped in to rectify the process. “Originally, the exercise should be made from the Rural Development department, instead from the office of chief secretary or for that matter from the Food and civil supplies department,” said a principal secretary.

Mahato, talking to the Hindustan Times, said that the preparation of the BPL list would be made in such way that would also qualify for getting the central grant for various schemes. Although the all party meeting did not stipulate any deadline for completing the procedure, sources close to Mahato said that the deputy CM had asked the chief secretary, food and civil supplies secretary and the rural development secretary to discuss the contentious issue next week and chalk out fresh course of action for the purpose.

Prominent among others present in the meeting included Hemlal Murmu, Badkuanwar Gagrai, Sudha Chaudhary, Hussain Ansari (all ministers), Pradeep Yadav (JVM-P), Annapurna Devi (RJD), Sarfaraz Ahmad (Congress), etc.