A 22-year-old Himachal village pradhan 'cleans up' BPL list. Read to know how

Ravinder Sood

Palampur, September 20

Neha Verma, 22, panchayat pradhan of Tambar in Jaisinghpur, has removed those beneficiaries from the BPL list, who owned four-wheelers. Neha is the first woman panchayat pradhan of Kangra, who has taken the bold step.

Neha said her next step would be to remove those persons from the list, who were involved in drug trafficking and liquor smuggling in the panchayat. At the same time, she would add the names of those, who were deserving.

Neha said the full house of panchayat had passed a resolution to erase the names of those who were well-off. A few persons, who own four-wheelers, are still left because of some legal issues. She had requested the government to constitute a committee to review their names.

Neha said she would implement the latest guidelines. “I remain pradhan or not but will follow the guidelines of the government and select BPL/IRDP and Antodaya beneficiaries in a fair manner,” she added.

The Tribune had highlighted the issue of irregularities in the selection of BPL members in these columns three months ago.