I am poor!

BPL families in Madhya Pradesh carry poor label 

State Devised Shameful Move To Mark Homes To Check Ineligible Beneficiaries 

Bhopal: The Madhya Pradesh government is yet to remove the controversial Mein Garib hoon (I am poor) brandings on houses of below poverty line(BPL)families a move adopted to expose ineligible BPL beneficiaries.The administration in some districts of Madhya Pradesh,nearly two years ago,devised a scheme to brand homes in order to identify genuine BPL families.

The idea worked well as a large number of ineligible people approached authoritiesto gettheir namesdeleted from the BPL list,after being shamed of being branded as poor.The move attracted widespread criticism,with familiesclaiming it amounted to insulting BPL families.

The district,however,said the decision was an initiative of Gram Sabhas as part of their campaign to identity fake beneficiaries.

In 2010,the BJP government had objected to such brandings and announced their removal.The controversy gradually died down.

Markings continue to be seen on almost every house in a large number of villages,spread over in about 20 panchayats of Khalwa development block,with a few fading owing to the rain.Its humiliating and the villagers are annoyed,however,there is no one to get these markings removed, says a tribal woman sarpanch of village Jamligujar SomtiBai,whoherself figures in the BPL list,adding that it is inappropriate to brand BPL families in this manner.

Journalist Jai Nagda says the markings,in bold letters,along with BPL card numbers can be seen on a number of rural households around Ashapur,about 40 km away from Khandwa district headquarters.Quoting locals,he said similar markings were also made on the houses of a few influential people,who had obtained BPL cards,but instantly removed them.

There are about 68.17 lakh BPL card holders in Madhya Pradesh while the Centre has approved a list of only 42 lakh families as those living below the poverty line.The state government had admitted in the past that there have been ineligible beneficiaries who have obtained BPL cards,apparently to benefit from the various government schemes meant for the poor.

Source: Our visits to MP and Times of India