Plan to exclude APL families from Rs 2-a-kg rice on anvil

The Pioneer, 16th July, 2008
Pioneer News Service Bhubaneswar

Coming under a scathing attack for its decision to provide rice at Rs 2 per kg to the families Above Poverty Line (APL) families living in the KBK region, the State Government has made it clear that it would have a rethinking over the issue.
"The Government will evolve a strategy to exclude rich families from the list of beneficiaries of the rupee two per kg rice scheme," Food and Civil Supplies Minister Manmohan Samal told reporters here on Tuesday.
"We are aware that some rich people in the KBK region will get the benefits meant for the poor," he said, adding that the Government was reviewing the matter seriously.
"Since more than 80 per cent of families in the KBK region are poor, the Government has decided to provide subsidised rice to all in the area for the time being till a strategy to exclude APL families is ready," Samal said.
The Minister maintained that as the Government was yet to finalise the BPL list, it decided to include APL families identified according to a BPL survey made in 1997.
The BPL survey made in 2002, however, showed that nearly 83 per cent of families in the KBK region live under the poverty line. The Centre is yet to accept the 2002 survey.
Of more than 55 lakh families entitled to get subsidised rice, 5.5 lakh were APL families belonging to the KBK region