State
Government must clarify who are BPL families in Odisha
On 11.7.18, RTI application
was submitted to three Departments of Govt. of Odisha i.e., Dept. of Panchayat
Raj, Dept. of Planning and Convergence and Dept. of Food Supply and Consumer
Welfare seeking information about Legal Status of BPL Card and
BPL Card holders in Odisha. The following information was sought for
from the PIOs.
A.
Number of BPL card holders (
district-wise) in Odisha which is
still considered by Govt. of Odisha as BPL beneficiaries in the state.
B.
What are the benefits that
BPL people are entitled to
get under various
Govt. schemes of Govt. of
Odisha and Govt. of India.
The PIO, Dept. of Food Supply and Consumer Welfare and Dept. of
Planning and Convergence transferred my
RTI Application to the PIO, Dept. of
Panchayat Raj to provide the information on the ground of non-availability
of information at their level. Simultaneously
, RTI Application was also forwarded to
various departments to supply the information about second query. Smt. Swayamprava Mohanty, PIO has sent a letter dated 31.8.18
stating that the said information is not available with
her section. Then on 6.9.18., I
filed first appeal to the First Appellate Authority, Department of
Panchayat Raj alleging malafide intention of the PIO to
deny the information urge
FAA to hear the case
and direct the PIO to supply the information free of cost . on 2.11.18,
while disposing the
appeal petition, the First Appellate
Authority said that
the said information is not available, as
the BPL cards are not issued by Dept. of Panchayat Raj but at
Block level. But my query about “number
of BPL families in Odisha
which is considered by Govt. of Odisha and what is the legal
status of BPL card holders. Are they entitled
to get any benefits under BPL category “ are not addressed by the First Appellate Authority.
No
Department also supplied
any information about it.
In respect
of supply of information about “What are the benefits that
BPL people are entitled to
get under various
Govt. schemes of Govt. of
Odisha and Govt. of India”, few departments have supplied
the information about provision
of benefits for BPL category. For
example, I and PR Dept. supplied
that the BPL people are entitled
to get information free of cost. The PIO, Dept. of Health and Family
Welfare supplied that BPL
families were entitled
to get free medical services in
Govt. hospitals . On 8.5.2018, The PIO,
office of Additional Fisheries officer ( Marine), Balasore provided that from marine sector, the BPL people are entitled to get benefits from savings-cum-relief. On 20.8.2018, the
PIO, Dept. of General Administration and Public Grievances supplied that
the BPL card holders are eligible
to get assistance out of Chief
Minister’s Relief Fund , Odisha for their treatment. On 14.8.18, the PIO,
directorate of Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Services, Cuttack has provided
that under innovative Poultry productivity project ( Broiler Farming ),
the BPL farmers can establish Small
Broiler Farms ( 150 birds Capacity ) as
support to their livelihood and economic empowerment. On 3.8.18, the PIO,
Directorate of Agriculture and Food
Production supplied that the BPL farmers are entitled
to get subsidy on Micronutrients,
Vermi compost , organic manure etc.
pertaining to Soil Health Card Scheme.
In fact,
the State Govt. has undertaken BPL survey in 1997 which has identified 47 lakh
families under BPL category ( Below Poverty
Line) . Accordingly, BPL card
was also distributed to all the
beneficiaries. In 2002, after order of Supreme Court, the State Govt.
has undertaken a survey
to revise the BPL list . Though
survey was conducted,
BPL list could not be prepared due to some administrative problem and it was
ultimately held up. Since then, the
State Govt. has not undertaken
any BPL survey to revise the list
, addition or deletion of names in the
BPL list. The BPL card was very
important for the
beneficiaries , as they were
getting 25 kg of rice per month
under PDS, kerosene and many more benefits.
In 2015,
when the State Govt. decided
to implement National Food
Security Act ( NFSA), a survey was conducted
to identify priority household and beneficiary under Antodaya Anna
Yojana to provide food-grains
at subsidized rice. New Ration Card was issued to each
Priority Household Family ( PHH) and AAY
beneficiaries to get benefits under
NFSA. During that time, the State Govt. officials motivated
the people that the BPL Card
got obsolete and useless , as
new ration card was issued. They also collected BPL cards from
the people . Many people also voluntarily surrendered the card. But the
State Govt. has not taken any decision
for withdrawal of BPL card from
the beneficiaries nor instructed any
officials to collect BPL card. It is
needless to mention here that
since several years, BPL
cards have neither been renewed nor new card issued
in case of missing or loss.
On
query from a beneficiary about procedure to get a duplicate BPL card replacing his damaged
card, I filed RTI Application
dated 17.1.18 to the PIO, Dept. of Panchayat Raj, Govt. of Odisha
seeking the following
information.
i. copy of Govt.
circular/order/notification, if any in respect of applying for a duplicate BPL card by a BPL beneficiary in case of loss and
missing of the original BPL card issued to him/her by Govt. of Odisha
ii. Details of procedure to be followed by a BPL beneficiary to get
a new BPL card in case
of loss of his original card issued
by Govt. earlier.
iii. Provide information
about who are the people considered as BPL in Odisha in present day and which card
they will use to get benefit as BPL person
The PIO
forwarded my RTI Application to the PIO, office of Collector, Khurda to supply
the information. The PIO did not supply
any information. On 11.7.18, I filed first appeal to the First Appellate
Authority-cum-ADM, Collectorate, Khurda to hear the case and direct the PIO to
supply the information. The First Appellate Authority neither heard the case
nor gave any order. On 30.8.18, I had filed second appeal to Odisha Information
Commission for justice which is
pending. It proves that the State Govt. does not want to issue the duplicate
BPL card to the beneficiaries. So that the BPL beneficiaries will not claim any
benefits from the Govt. at subsidized rate or free of cost.
Since last few years, the State Govt. have
been declaring host of populist schemes and programme
making provision of free service
for BPL people. It
gives an impression that the
Govt. is committed to provide free service to the
BPL people. But in practice, the
State Govt. does not clarify who are the BPL people and how many BPL people are in Odisha. While presenting Economic survey
report, the State Govt.
claims that poverty
has been reduced to level of 25% in the state . If it is so, then the Govt. must clarify how many families have been identified under
BPL category and who are these
families. But astonishingly, the Govt. is maintaining ominous silence about
it . The writer ponders over the
possibility of reason for it.
Pradip Pradhan
RTI Activist
M-9937843482
Date-8.11.18
