(a) the total number of persons presently registered and drawing food items under the Public Distribution System, State-wise;
(b) whether a large number of persons living below the poverty line are deprived of access to the PDS; and
(c) if so, the reasons therefor and the steps proposed to extend the same to them?
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION ( SHRI SRIRAM CHAUHAN )
(a) A Statement indicating statewise number of households possessing ration cards (APL and
BPL) as per reports received from State Governments/ UT Administrations is given in Annexure.
(b) & (c) : Keeping in view the large number of BPL families in the country, the possibility
of omission of some of the deserving families from the list of BPL beneficiaries and issue of
BPL cards to them cannot be ruled out.
Identification of beneficiaries namely the population living below poverty line (BPL)
is one of the most important features of TPDS which is carried out by States/UTs. Under the
guidelines for implementation of TPDS the States/UTs have been asked to include the really poor
and vulnerable sections of the society under the BPL category and actively involve the Gram
Sabhas and Gram Panchayats in the identification process. The State Governments/UTs have been
asked to review the list of BPL families on regular intervals so that the poor and needy are not
deprived of the benefits under the TPDS.
ANNEXURE
ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (a) OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1257 FOR ANSWER IN THE
LOK SABHA ON 02-03-2001.
STATEMENT INDICATING STATEWISE NO. OF HOUSEHOLDS, NO. OF BPL HOUSEHOLDS, AND NO. OF RATION CARDS.
(As on 20.2.2001)
STATE/UT Projec- %BPL No. of No. of BPL Households 2000 Reported ted as per House- 2000 (in lakhs) as on popu- expert holds lation group 2000 2000 (in (in lakhs) lakhs)
Andhra Pradesh 754.66 25.68 158.21 40.63 113.60 53.97 167.57 Nov.2000 Arunachal Pradesh 11.92 40.86 2.42 0.99 0.82 2.75 3.57 Sept.2000 Assam 261.96 40.86 44.93 18.36 18.82 25.72 44.54 Nov. 2000 Bihar 999.42 54.96 162.24 89.17 84.26 88.74 173.00 Nov-97 Goa 15.95 14.92 3.20 0.48 0.08 3.05 3.13 Dec.2000 Gujarat 482.52 24.21 87.57 21.20 33.89 72.38 106.27 Nov.2000 Haryana 198.31 25.05 31.48 7.89 5.83 38.18 44.01 Dec. 2000 Himachal Pradesh 67.11 40.86 12.57 5.14 2.86 9.39 12.25 Aug.2000 Jammu & Kashmir 99.45 40.86 18.02 7.36 3.36 10.12 13.48 Sep-97 Karnataka 520.91 33.16 94.37 31.29 62.83 49.16 111.99 Nov.2000 Kerala 322.62 25.43 61.10 15.54 20.47 42.54 63.01 Dec.2000 Madhya Pradesh 797.47 42.52 141.15 60.01 43.65 134.18 177.83 Mar-00 Maharashtra 911.15 36.86 177.27 65.34 58.11 136.27 194.38 Apr. 2000 Manipur 25.18 40.86 4.07 1.66 0.67 1.13 1.80 Jun-97 Meghalaya 24.34 40.86 4.49 1.83 0.97 0.98 1.95 Mar-97 Mizoram 9.52 40.86 1.67 0.68 N.A. 1.66 1.66 Apr-00 Nagaland 16.84 40.86 3.02 1.24 0.96 1.05 2.01 Mar-99 Orissa 358.57 48.56 67.91 32.98 41.23 39.85 81.08 Dec-99 Punjab 235.36 11.77 39.76 4.68 5.00 50.00 55.00 Dec.2000 Rajasthan 535.59 27.41 88.67 24.31 22.87 81.36 104.23 Jun-00 Sikkim 5.59 41.43 1.05 0.43 N.A. N.A. 0.66 Oct-97 Tamilnadu 617.74 35.03 138.82 48.63 65.51 92.24 157.75 Dec.2000 Tripura 37.82 40.86 7.22 2.95 2.31 4.55 6.86 Aug.2000 Uttar Pradesh 1701.88 40.85 273.61 111.77 95.48 159.96 255.44 JULY 98 West Bengal 790.06 35.66 145.23 51.79 46.49 110.14 156.63 Aug.2000 A&N Islands 3.86 34.47 0.81 0.28 0.12 0.74 0.86 Sept.2000 Chandigarh 8.88 11.35 2.03 0.23 0.00 2.12 2.12 Apr-00 D&N Haveli 1.90 50.84 0.36 0.18 0.16 0.16 0.32 Dec.2000 Daman & Diu 1.40 15.80 0.26 0.04 0.02 0.28 0.30 May-00 Delhi 139.64 14.69 27.82 4.09 N.A 36.55 36.55 Oct.2000 Lakshdweep 0.71 25.04 0.11 0.03 N.A. 0.13 0.13 Nov.2000 Pondicherry 11.11 37.40 2.24 0.84 0.90 1.66 2.56 Dec.2000 T O T A L 9969.44 1803.68 652.04 731.27 1251.01 1982.94