To put "social pressure" on ineligible people registered in the Below Poverty Line (BPL) list, the Himachal Pradesh government has decided to make it mandatory for all such families to display a board carrying their names with BPL tag outside their houses.
This step will put "social pressure" on such families as people in their neighbourhood, who are aware of their economic status, would come to know that they are undeserving of subsidies meant for the poor, Principal Secretary (Rural Development and Panchayati Raj) Onkar Sharma said.
Instructions have been sent to all officials concerned, up to panchayat level, to implement the decision.
There are about 2.86 lakh BPL families in the state out of a population of 71 lakh.
Fearing social contempt, some families have already surrendered their BPL cards and in Kangra district alone, 3,500 families have returned the cards.
