28,000 BPL families missing out on govt aid in Prayagraj

A total of 28,365 families, who are below the poverty line (BPL), in the district are not guarded by the benefits of government-run health, welfare, food security or pension schemes, according to official data.

(For representation)

This information came to light after the district administration undertook a survey in the wake of the state government implementing its “zero poverty” scheme, said district officials, adding they aimed at including the maximum number of people as beneficiaries of such programmes.

They said in Prayagraj district, the number of households with ration cards and Antyodaya ration cards, at present, stood at 9.34 lakh (benefiting 40 lakh people) and 86,590 (benefiting 2.61 lakh people), respectively.

The Zero Poverty Uttar Pradesh Campaign, also known as the Zero Poverty Program, is an initiative by the state government to eliminate extreme poverty in the state within a year. The programme, launched on October 2 last year, aims to identify and support extremely poor families through direct benefit transfers (DBTs) and livelihood support, with the goal being to increase the annual income of such families to a minimum of ₹1.25 lakh.

“The district panchayat Raj officer (DPRO) and district development officer (DDO) have conducted a survey at their level to identify eligible beneficiaries… All found eligible will get the benefits,” said district magistrate Ravindra Kumar Mandar.

12k eligible for housing, 3.8k for pension

The district officials said they had 25,015 new applications for a government housing scheme alone and, out of them, 12,308 people were found to be eligible. Similarly, 3,870 people were found to be eligible for a government pension scheme and more than 2,000 for ration cards under Kisan Samman Nidhi initiative, they added.

They said for the survey teams of block development officers (BDOs) and lekhpals were deployed in development blocks. Overall, the exercise, which went on for about a month, saw the participation of about 400 officials.

“The survey work under the Zero Poverty scheme has been completed. The final list is being prepared. Every eligible person is being made to apply for welfare schemes,” said Harshika Singh, the chief development officer (CDO).

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