Cannot revise Below Poverty Line criteria unilaterally: Gujarat government

NEW DELHI: Gujarat government today clarified that it had not issued any new guidelines for identification of Below Poverty Line families, saying it could not take such a step unilaterally.

Reacting to a media report which claimed that the Gujarat government had come up with new criteria for identification of BPL families, the state's Food and Civil Supplies Secretary RP Gupta said that they had merely reiterated the guidelines issued by the Centre in 2004.

The Centre is providing ration at subsidised rates to 21 lakh BPL families in Gujarat, as per the estimates of the Planning Commission, according to a state government release.

But the above data is based on old criteria and the Centre has not modified the same in the last 10 years, the release added. The Gujarat government gives ration to an additional 11 lakh families through its own resources, the statement said.