Pradhans, panches took HP’s BPL sops

Bhanu P Lohumi

Tribune news Service

Shimla, August 2

You may mark it as official: For at least two years, Himachal Pradesh has let 32 per cent of its village-level functionaries and ex-functionaries such as panches, pradhans and suchlike take away the benefits available to its Below Poverty Line (BPL) populace. These were the officials whose job was to decide government subsidy for the state's poor.

According to figures obtained through Right to Information, 3,635 ineligible panchayati raj institution (PRIs) and ex-PRIs functionaries found their names in the list of BPL families. There are 10,720 PRIs and ex-PRIs functionaries in the state.

Names of 1,545 panches, 1,532 ex-panches, 263 present pradhans, 255 ex-pradhans, 30 present zila parishad/nagar samiti members and 10 ex-zila parishad/nagar samiti members were among those "ineligible persons." These have been deleted from the BPL lists of beneficiaries. The state's 3-lakh BPL families get subsidised ration, cheap loans, housing subsidy, medical treatment, scholarships and other facilities under different welfare schemes. 

A BPL family is entitled to 5 kg of food grain (3 kg of wheat and 2 kg of rice) per person per month at Rs 2 and Rs 3 per kg respectively. The state government is also providing additional food grain to all such families at the rate of 5.25 per kg of wheat and Rs 6.85 per Kg of rice to meet out the scale of 35 kg of ration to all BPL families per month.

While it's not known as to how much the state has lost, rural development and Panchayati Raj minister Anil Sharma said today that his department has ordered videography of the meetings of Gram Sabha where it is decided who is to be included in the BPL list. "The department makes enquiries whenever a complaint is made," he said. The information was procured RTI activist Dev Ashish Bhattacharya who has now petitioned the Secretary, Department of Panchayati Raj and Rural Development for initiating criminal proceedings against those who misused the public money.