Rich in Kerala use BPL card

Kottayam: Exposing chinks in the Public Distribution System, a survey has found that super rich people in Kerala have been using the Below Poverty Level (BPL) card aimed at uplifting the deprived section.

People earning hefty income through government jobs were found to be using the cards for the last several years.
Many of them using the BPL cards had more than one house, more than one four wheelers, and landed property and good bank balance and precious metals.

The matter came to light when the government insisted on producing ration card before claiming salaries by the government officials.
The government has found out that 1,27,546 cards were being misused by the people in the state.

A total of 43,396 government employees have voluntarily given up cards meant for the BPL category after the government fixed final date to surrender the cards by those illegally using subsidy until August 20.

Most people surrendering the card belonged to Thiruvanathapuram with 7,684 numbers. This was followed by Kollam 5,442, Thrissur 3,746, Allapuzha 3,719, Palakkad 3,507, Malapuram 3,208, Pathanamthitta 2,967, Kozhikkode 2,830 among others.

The lower number was from Wayanad at 717.