At least 20% BPL families should be in APL category, says Karnataka Minister KH Muniyappa
Belagavi: The Karnataka Minister for Food and Civil Supplies K H Muniyappa on Monday said in legislative council that at least 20 per cent of the families with Below Poverty Line (BPL) ration cards should be in the Above Poverty Line (APL) category.
He blamed the previous governments for the high number of Below Poverty Line ration cards in the state and appealed to all the political parties to rise above their party line and rectify this mistake.
“I accept that there are many APL families in the BPL category. They are at least 20 per cent. I tried to remove them, which led to the confusion,” he added replying to a question raised by the JD(S) MLC K A Thippeswamy in the Legislative council. Thippeswamy had asked the government about the recent confusion over the deletion of many BPL families from the list.
The MLC, however, pointed out that there are 1.43 crore families with BPL ration cards in the state, which means that almost 80 per cent of people have this ration card.
"Why has this happened? Have you investigated it?" Thippeswamy asked. In reply, Muniyappa said, “Successive governments are responsible for the increase in the BPL ration cards. I tried to bring many in the BPL to the APL. This effort created confusion.” He said he would scrutinise the list.
“Without causing trouble to a single BPL family, I will get a detailed inquiry conducted to bring the BPL families into the APL category,” the Minister told the House. He clarified that the government will not cancel the APL card holders.
According to him, there are 25 lakh APL card holders, of which only one lakh avail food grains at a subsidised rates.
Explaining the reason behind his apprehension that there are less BPL families, Muniyappa said Karnataka is the second economically strong state after Maharashtra.
Here the BPL families should be less in number but none of the southern states have above 50 per cent BPL families. “However, Karnataka has 65 per cent to 70 per cent BPL families which is not right and you all are aware of it. We need to resolve it rising above the party level. Then only it can be rectified,” the Minister said.
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Allahabad HC expresses dissatisfaction over probe in 2009 custodial death case
Prayagraj (PTI): The Allahabad High Court has expressed dissatisfaction over the investigation and state's evidence in a 2009 custodial death case in Mainpuri district of Uttar Pradesh.
A bench of justices Atul Sreedharan and Siddhartha Nandan warned that if relevant videography and photographs are not placed before the court, the only option left to it will be to take assistance of CBI to recover the vital evidence.
The order was passed while hearing a PIL filed by Association for Advocacy and Legal Initiatives.
The court, in its order dated April 7, noted that crucial facts including video and photo evidence of the incident are missing.
The court observed, "In the event, by the next date of hearing, the videography and photographs relevant in this case are not placed before this court, the only other option left to this court is to take assistance of the central bureau of investigation (CBI) to recover vital evidence in this case which shall be considered on the next date of hearing."
"The chain of evidence is unclear casting doubt on the fairness of the investigation," the court added.
The court also directed the then sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) Karmendra Singh of Mainpuri to file his affidavit strictly in terms of the order dated February 9, failing which, it said, it shall consider to take appropriate action against him.
The court asked Singh to give a precise answer on the fate of the videography recording which was done in his presence.
The court fixed May 5 as the next date of hearing in the matter.
