Karnataka govt suspends issue of BPL cards temporarily

Wary about adding an additional burden to the state exchequer at a time it is already parched for revenue to implement its five guarantees, the Congress government has temporarily suspended inclusion of new BPL cards.

The BPL card is a prerequisite for two of its most expensive guarantees - Anna Bhagya (additional 5 kg rice free for every BPL member) and Gruha Lakshmi (Rs 2,000 every month to the woman head of every household).

The Anna Bhagya is expected to cost Rs 10,092 crore while Gruha Lakshmi is estimated at Rs 25,000-30,000 crore annually.

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Karnataka has 1.2 crore BPL cards covering a population of 4.42 crore people. As many as 2.95 lakh applications seeking BPL cards are pending before the government.

The government was issuing cards until the election model code of conduct came into effect for the Assembly Polls. "We haven't restarted it as we have been asked to suspend it for the time being," an official in the Food and Civil Supplies Department said.

For now, the government has closed the new applications window on the Aahara portal, the online interface where citizens can apply for new cards.

In addition, there have been recent requests for bifurcation of cards, according to sources.

Bifurcation means, a formerly joint family will claim two cards by seeking the government to consider them as two separate units. While this might not pose a problem to Anna Bhagya as the number of people will still remain the same, it will impact the Gruha Lakshmi scheme.

Moreover, while the union government fixes a target of 45% of urban population and 70% rural population for issuing BPL cards, Karnataka has already overshot this target. The state has 14 lakh excess cards than the requisite, officials said.

"While it's not mandatory to stick to this limit, the state can issue additional cards so long as it bears the cost of grains distributed under the National Food Security Act for such cards," the official further said.

The government had weeded out 3.2 lakh duplicate cards and was issuing new cards in this place. The chief minister should give his approval for issues of any new cards now.