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Patna, (Bihar Times): Bihar, Orissa and Punjab are
among the eight states, which have sought additional
foodgrains from the Centre on the plea that the number
of people living Below Poverty Line (BPL) has
increased recently. However, it needs to be recalled
that the Centre claims that the number of people under
this category has declined by 8.5 per cent.
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According to the Union agriculture minister, Sharad
Pawar, a number of state governments have requested to
enhance allocation of foodgrains to their states on
the basis of the higher number of BPL cards issued by
them.
Apart from the above three Kerala, Karnataka, West
Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and the Union
Territory of Daman and Diu have requested the Centre
to increase allocation of foodgrains for BPL families.
The minister told Lok Sabha on Monday that while Bihar
has requested allocation of foodgrains for 1.21 crore
BPL families, the Centre says only 65.23 lakh families
are covered under BPL in the state. This suggests that
Bihar has now something between 60 and 70 per cent
people living below the poverty line, a jump by about
25 per cent in the last couple of years.
The Planning Commission, however, says the percentage
of BPL population has come down to 27.5 per cent in
2004-05 from 36 per cent in 1993-94.
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