Ineligible govt staff on BPL list
Shariq Majeed
Tribune News Service

Buddhal (Rajouri), February 1
In the remote and backward area of Buddhal, the Rural Development Department (RDD) has issued BPL certificates to government employees who have a five-figure income.

Since the department concerned has issued BPL certificates to some government employees, they are availing the benefits of such document, including ration, at a cheaper price.

Reliable sources in the department here told The Tribune that the authorities here had issued BPL certificates to more than a dozen government employees mostly from the Education Department. They added that by issuing BPL certificates to government employees, the department has shifted the benefits of such certificates away from poor and deserving people.

Sources further disclosed that the RDD had issued such certificates to the government employees from Buddhal, Kewal, Samhote, and Gabbar area. They said the persons possessing such certificates had mainly managed such documents by bribing the RDD officials.

“The RDD has issued BPL certificates to some government employees in Buddhal area. The certificates are issued by the block development officer (BDO) concerned after verification report by the village-level worker (gram sewak) of the village concerned. In case of such certificates, the nexus between the RDD officials and the beneficiary government employees cannot be ruled out,” a senior officer in the district administration said.

Senior NC leader Abdul Rehmaan Bhat said on many occasions they had taken up the matter with the district administration, but the later had failed to do anything. The Rajouri Deputy Commissioner, while admitting that there may be discrepancies in the BPL list, promised that such list will be revised.