No ration card of eligible families cancelled: M. Lakshman

Only 80,000 BPL cards converted to APL cards; Union Food Ministry had asked the State in July this year to eliminate 12.80 lakh BPL cards that were issued in excess in the State, claims the KPCC spokesperson

KPCC Spokesperson M. Lakshman on Thursday lashed out at the BJP for spreading lies that the Congress government in the State was cancelling BPL cards and clarified that not a single BPL card of eligible families had been cancelled.

The government took some steps acting on the Union Food Ministry’s directions for eliminating bogus ration cards. Nevertheless, the State government did not cancel BPL cards of the eligible families as claimed by the BJP but only converted around 80,000 BPL cards to APL cards, he clarified.

Addressing a press conference here, Mr. Lakshman said the Ministry had asked the State in July this year to get rid of an excess of 12,80,540 BPL cards and warned of discontinuing benefits that the State eligible from the Centre under the public distribution system (PDS).

This has exposed the BJP’s “double standards”, as the NDA government at the Centre had asked the State to weed out excess BPL cards while the BJP in the State was spreading lies that the Siddaramaiah government was cancelling the cards, depriving benefits to the poor, he charged.

Mr. Lakshman clarified that no cards had been cancelled as being accused by the Opposition and only 80,000 BPL cards had been converted into APL cards. However, the move will not affect the families that were availing of guarantee benefits such as Gruha Lakshmi for which the family should not be an Income Tax payer for availing the benefit.

Hitting out at the Opposition leader R. Ashok, the KPCC spokesperson said, “Mr. Ashok was telling lies on the ration card issue and he was making statements without knowing the facts. It was the Union Food Ministry which asked the State to remove excess ration cards while the State did not cancel a single card but only converted 80,000 BPL cards to APL cards.”

In Mysuru, 1,20,134 BPL cards had been issued and 4,221 BPL cards had been converted to APL cards after the Congress came to power. However, when the BJP was in power in the State from 2018 to 2023, it converted 9,881 BPL cards to APL cards in Mysuru district alone, the Congress leader said, producing the documents to substantiate his claim.

Mr. Lakshman also said that the Centre had itself claimed that it had eliminated 5.8 lakh fake ration cards in the country to streamline the PDS system. Around 80 crore beneficiaries are remaining in the country after the Centre removed fake ration cards.

“Is it wrong to stop benefits to those having four to five buildings and two to four cars in their names,” Mr. Lakshman asked.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has already stated that the eligible beneficiaries need not worry as measures had been initiated limiting government staff and IT payers.

Published - November 21, 2024 07:21 pm IST