Bihar, Orissa and Punjab are among the eight states, which have sought additional foodgrains from the Centre on the plea that the number of people living Below Poverty Line (BPL) has increased recently. However, it needs to be recalled that the Centre claims that the number of people under this category has declined by 8.5 per cent.
According to the Union agriculture minister, Sharad Pawar, a number of state governments have requested to enhance allocation of foodgrains to their states on the basis of the higher number of BPL cards issued by them.
Apart from the above three Kerala, Karnataka, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and the Union Territory of Daman and Diu have requested the Centre to increase allocation of foodgrains for BPL families.
The minister told Lok Sabha on Monday that while Bihar has requested allocation of foodgrains for 1.21 crore BPL families, the Centre says only 65.23 lakh families are covered under BPL in the state. This suggests that Bihar has now something between 60 and 70 per cent people living below the poverty line, a jump by about 25 per cent in the last couple of years.
The Planning Commission, however, says the percentage of BPL population has come down to 27.5 per cent in 2004-05 from 36 per cent in 1993-94.
Source:http://bihartimes.com,17-03-08
