'Where did 60L BPL families in TN come from?'

  • | Thursday | 14th February, 2019

If we consider three persons per family, then it will be only 28.32 lakh family,” he added. It is also to be noted that as per the 2011 census, the population of Tamil Nadu was 7.2 crore, and this translates to 84.96 lakh people (11.28%) under BPL. “Keeping this fact in view, if we go by the 60 lakh-BPL family data, as announced in the assembly on February 11, then 30% of families in Tamil Nadu would fall under BPL category. That means one in 10 families living in Tamil Nadu falls below the poverty line, which is factually wrong,” Arumugam said.“As per the finance minister’s budget speech for 2018-19 financial year, the total population that fell under BPL in Tamil Nadu was only 11.28%. Agreeing to the request, the bench said the plea would be taken up for hearing on Thursday.According to the petitioner, under the public distribution system of Tamil Nadu, there are nearly two crore ration cards in use.

CHENNAI: Satta Panchayat Iyakkam (SPI), an NGO, on Wednesday approached the Madras high court challenging the Tamil Nadu government’s decision to give Rs 2,000 each to 60 lakh BPL families in the state as ‘special financial help’.The primary contention of SPI was that 60 lakh BPL families, as derived by the state, is an inflated figure and, in fact, there are only 28.32 lakh BPL families as per the 2018-19 budget speech of the finance minister.SPI requested the court to direct the state government to prepare a new list with the actual BPL families that will fall under the defined parameters, and not to proceed with the implementation based on the announcement made in the assembly on February 11 until correct figures are arrived at.The petitioner also wanted the government to produce the records based on which the ‘inflated’ number of 60 lakh families were arrived at, and to publish the details of BPL families online and in grama sabha for public scrutiny.On Wednesday, when a division bench of Justice S Manikumar and Justice Subramonium Prasad commenced their proceedings, SPI trustee Senthil Arumugam appeared in person and requested to consider the plea on urgent basis as the government is likely to implement its announcement any time. Agreeing to the request, the bench said the plea would be taken up for hearing on Thursday.According to the petitioner, under the public distribution system of Tamil Nadu, there are nearly two crore ration cards in use. “Keeping this fact in view, if we go by the 60 lakh-BPL family data, as announced in the assembly on February 11, then 30% of families in Tamil Nadu would fall under BPL category. That means one in 10 families living in Tamil Nadu falls below the poverty line, which is factually wrong,” Arumugam said.“As per the finance minister’s budget speech for 2018-19 financial year, the total population that fell under BPL in Tamil Nadu was only 11.28%. It is also to be noted that as per the 2011 census, the population of Tamil Nadu was 7.2 crore, and this translates to 84.96 lakh people (11.28%) under BPL. If we consider three persons per family, then it will be only 28.32 lakh family,” he added.

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