(a) whether the number of BPL cardholders have risen in the country;
(b) if so, the details of the same State/UT-wise;
(c) whether any request has been received from the State Governments for increasing the number of BPL households; and
(d) if so, the reaction of the Government thereto and the steps taken in this regard?
MINISTER OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT
(SHRI NARENDRA SINGH TOMAR)
(a) to (d): The Ministry of Rural Development neither defines Poverty Line nor issues Below Poverty Line (BPL) cards. The erstwhile Planning Commission had been estimating poverty line using data from Household Consumer Expenditure Surveys. Under Socio Economic and Caste Census (SECC) 2011, which was conducted in place of erstwhile BPL Censuses by the Ministry, rural households are classified as automatically excluded, automatically included and deprived based on their multiple socio-economic characteristics.
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