Four lakh applications for BPL cards that have been pending for sometime will be issued before June, Food and Civil Supplies Minister Umesh V. Katti on Monday said. A total of 15.53 lakh application for BPL cards have been received by the Government in three years.
“The biometrics of the beneficiaries will be collected in one month’s time. The 4.25 lakh applications will be cleared by June,” he informed the Legislative Council in response to a question posed by Congress member U.B. Venkatesh. Acknowledging that there had been delay in issuing BPL cards, he said: “The door-to-door survey work and collection of biometrics of the beneficiaries was affected in the last two years due to the pandemic.”
In his written reply, the Minister said of the 15.53 lakh applications received in three years, 8.03 lakh cards had been issued and 3.24 lakh applications have been rejected. About 4.25 lakh applications are pending.
Pointing out at delay in issuing cards, Mr. Venkatesh said that in Belagavi, the home district of Mr. Katti, just about 1,717 cards had been issued this year while 28,000 applications were pending. “It is appropriate now for the Government to issue BPL cards as families have been hit hard due to the pandemic,” he urged the Minister.
