Ahmedabad, 2 February 2014

As communicated by GoG sources, this is with regard to the news being run in NDTV India:

First of all, these are not new guidelines but only a clarification issued to do away the mis-understanding among the field functionaries for issuance of BPL ration cards only and not for any other purpose.

For getting a BPL ration-card, as per GOI guidelines, a person has to be in BPL list of Rural Development with a score less than 16 (0-16) or has to fall into other asset based criterion. Or should have monthly income of less than Rs. 324 in rural & Rs.501 in urban areas.

But what about a family who is poor but somehow does not fit into this asset-based criterion. The provision of OR in the above guidelines of GOI debars such families from getting a ration card.

Our clarification of income criterion (Rs. 11/17 per day) is an enabling additional criterion for such persons.

Thus, it applies to those who are not falling in the BPL list because of the asset based criterion

GOI and planning commission do not recognise this additionality and do not give food-grain for these additional poor families.

The problem with GOI BPL list was that it was based on asset based criterians only without any income criterians. Govt. of Gujarat added the income criterian in 2003-04, entitling the BPL ration-cards even for those who were not BPL as per GOI (asset base criterions) but were actually having less income.

There are 21.00 lakh BPL families as per GOI criterion. For which GOI is giving us ration. But GOG, from its own sources, is giving the ration to 32.00 lakh families. Thus, we are reaching to the poorest of the poor on the one hand and also to those who are marginally better in terms of possession of assets.

Actually, there are lakhs of families in Gujarat whose income is far above this limit (Rs. 11/17 per day) but are having BPL ration-card as they figure in BPL list of GOI.

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