Bengaluru, 21 Nov

Allaying fears that the state government would scrap the entire “below poverty line (BPL)” ration cards, Food and Civil Supplies Minister KH Muniyappa on Thursday said the cards of families that were eligible to be in the category would not be scrapped.

The minister gave the clarification when the Opposition BJP raised the issue of BPL card cancellation and demanded the resignation of Muniyappa as the state Food and Civil Supplies minister.

The state government is undertaking a BPL card revision process, reviewing the eligibility of the families to weed out ineligible cards.

Muniyappa said only one or two per cent of BPL cards have been converted to Above Poverty Line (APL) cards.

"We have decided not to cancel any BPL card. During the review process, one or two per cent of BPL cards were converted to APL. However, the honourable chief minister has instructed us to restore the BPL status of all eligible cards, except those belonging to government employees and income-tax payers," Muniyappa said.

In his reaction to the BJP’s demand for his resignation over the issue, he said that as the Opposition party, it was their “duty” to ask for resignation. "It is not required," the minister said. "We have decided to convert BPL cards belonging to income-tax payers and government employees. The ration cards of 4,036 government employees have been revised. Altogether 1,02,509 cards are being reviewed and 8,647 BPL cards have been cancelled," Muniyappa said.

"The percentage of BPL card holders in many constituencies is around 90 per cent. In my constituency, it is 90 per cent and in Holenarasipura, it is 92 per cent. We need to ensure only eligible people get BPL cards. Hence, some BPL cards have been cancelled after review," the minister added. —ANI