The Hindu 26.08.2009

Rs. 5.5 crore for survey of BPL families

Special Correspondent

BANGALORE: The Minister for Municipal Administration, Public Enterprises and Local Institutions, Balachandra Jarkiholi, on Monday said that the State Government had decided to conduct an economic survey of below poverty line (BPL) families in 222 urban local body areas and it had sanctioned Rs. 5.5 crore for this. He told presspersons that the last such survey was conducted in 1998. There were nine lakh such families in the State in 1998 and now, there was an estimated 40.50 lakh families, a more than four-fold increase, over the last 10 years. The survey would be completed in three months. Details of family members such as their educational qualification, employment, benefits they were getting under government schemes, property they owned and how they acquired them, the kind of residential facility, the condition of their children, other economic activities, if any, and what other facilities they expect from the Government would be collected during the survey.

He said that 18 per cent of the budgeted grants used to be earmarked for the development of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes living in areas governed by urban local bodies and this had been raised to 22.75 per cent.