Income criteria for BPL families hiked to Rs 50,000
The state government has increased the income criteria for the selection of below poverty line (BPL) families from Rs 36,000 to Rs 50,000 per annum so as to benefit more people. The decision was taken at a Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu here after the Budget session in the Assembly yesterday evening.
The raising of the income criteria to Rs 50,000 for selecting BPL beneficiaries for availing of benefits under various schemes will help enroll more families. At present, there are 2.66 lakh BPL families in 3,615 gram panchayats of Himachal Pradesh.
This Cabinet decision comes ahead of the decision to revise BPL lists in the state from April 1 to include more beneficiaries.
On January 9 this year, the Cabinet had decided to include in the BPL category the families that had no adult male member between 18 and 59 years, families headed by women or whose head had a disability of 50 per cent or more.
The Cabinet had then decided to include in the BPL list the families that had worked for at least 100 days under MGNREGA in the previous financial year and the families the earning members of which were suffering from chronic diseases like cancer, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, muscular dystrophy, thalassemia or any other condition resulting in permanent disability.
