Wrongs in BPL verifications amid COVID-19 scare

Wrong inclusions and exclusions in the list of AAY and BPL categories surfacing day in and day out in parts of Kashmir valley and Jammu division amid home delivery of ration during the ongoing COVID-19 lockdown speaks volumes about the absence of a system of checks balances in the issuance of ration cards by the food, civil supplies and consumer affairs (FCS&CA) department. The blame for the mess in the BPL and AAY verifications has not to be blindly put on the food, civil supplies and consumer affairs (FCS&CA) department as revenue and rural development departments are part of process followed for the verification of BPL and AAY families. Saying that inclusions or exclusions in the BPL and AAY categories are allowed on proper complaints demanding re-verifications of particular families is not enough to satisfy the aggrieved but a process to identify the wrongs in the BPL and AAY categories has to be carried out to ensure that deserving are not left out . Since district level designated committees headed by deputy commissioners are not carrying out annual exercises for physical verification of the families covered under BPL and AAY categories, the necessary corrections needed remain on the records for years together. An annual exercise for physical verification of BPL entries would have reduced the scope for errors in the records of BPL and AAY families. A huge lapse in Kangan area of Ganderbal district triggered a major row last week after the placement a blind man in the BPL category brought the food, civil supplies and consumer affairs (FCS&CA) department under sharp criticism from all quarters. However question can be asked that why to blame Food, Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs department only , why not the revenue and rural development department who play a more key role in the verification and re-verification of the BPL categories at the grass root level.
Unless and until the government does not pursue the policy of annual verifications of the BPL and AAY inclusions and exclusions, the fear of mess in the ration distribution in unrest periods like the present one can’t be addressed to the entire satisfaction of the destitutes, handicapped and the poor living below the poverty line.
Merely giving the right to inclusion in the BPL category to the blinded Kangan man won’t end the mess but the officials responsible for the huge errors have to be identified and punished sternly so that errors in BPL and AAY categories don’t surface again and again. The removal of errors in the records of BPL and AAY categories is just one part of correction process but inability of the government to re-verify the verified lists is the major cause for wrong inclusions and exclusions in the BPL and AAY categories. Unless and until the government does not pursue the policy of annual verifications of the BPL and AAY inclusions and exclusions, the fear of mess in the ration distribution in unrest periods like the present one can’t be addressed to the entire satisfaction of the destitutes, handicapped and the poor living below the poverty line.