The Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Department has issued eligibility criteria for selecting families for inclusion in the Below Poverty Line (BPL) list in the eighth phase of the exercise. In this phase, families with orphaned children below the age of 27 and households comprising all members aged above 59 years, with no adult member between 27 and 59 years of age, will be eligible for inclusion in the list.
As per the orders, the families whose head has a disability of 40 per cent or more, and whose earning members are suffering from cancer, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, muscular dystrophy, haemophilia, thalassemia or any other serious illness that has rendered them permanently disabled will also be eligible. Besides, the families in which all adult members worked for at least one day under MGNREGA during the previous financial year, and landless families are also eligible.
The households paying income tax or its annual income exceeding Rs 75,000 will not be eligible. Also, if a family has any member employed in a government, semi-government or private job will not be considered for the list.
The department has clarified that participation in the survey or meeting the eligibility criteria does not automatically entitle a family to inclusion in the BPL list. Applications received under the eighth phase will be verified at the village, block and district levels. The department has set July 5 as the deadline for completing the application, verification and recommendation process. The final BPL list will be published by July 15.
