As guarantee bill grows, Karnataka to cancel all ineligible BPL cards

“According to NITI Aayog, the percentage of BPL families in the state should be less,” he said, asking officials to cancel all ineligible BPL cards in the state. The cards are essential to avail of benefits under the five guarantee schemes of the government.

A note from the Finance Department to the Food and Civil Supplies Department issued in June 2023 highlighted a “large number of ineligible persons having BPL cards”. The Finance Department said there were 1.13 crore BPL cards in Karnataka, which amounted to 85.23 per cent of the households in the state. BPL card holders in states like Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Telangana were 62.11 per cent, 64.36 per cent, and 65.59 per cent of the total households, respectively.

Siddaramaiah also discussed the progress of Indira Canteens – subsidised state-run canteens – in the state. The government has cleared the construction of 70 new Indira Canteens in Bengaluru. Works of other such canteens approved by the government in other parts of the state should start soon, the CM said.

The delay in collecting property tax was also flagged in the meeting. In the last fiscal, property tax dues were pegged at Rs 224 crore. In the current year, until the end of June, the government has collected Rs 806 crore as property tax and Rs 1,053 crore was yet to be collected. According to a note from the Chief Minister’s Office, directions were issued to all DCs to collect the pending dues in a campaign mode.