Govt ready to expand BPL list on demands from states: Pawar

Government is ready to consider revision of the number of below poverty line families in the country in the wake of demands from states to expand the Below Poverty Line (BPL) list, Food and Civil Supplies Minister Sharad Pawar said today.

Replying to supplementaries in the Lok Sabha during Question Hour, he said the recommendation to increase the number of BPL families has to come from the states through the National Development Council to the Union Government.

He noted that there have been several representations from the states to increase the number of BPL families.

Pawar said the number of BPL families has been decided by the Planning Commission in consultation with the states. Lists of BPL and Above Poverty Line families have not been changed for quite some time, he said.

According to Planning Commission figures there are 6.52 crore BPL families in the country.

On the issue of rise in prices of sugar, Pawar said there was a gap between demand and supply this year. "This is mainly on account of reduction in area and production of sugarcane in the crop year 2007-08 and higher diversion of cane to usages other than manufacture of sugar," he said.

To bridge the gap between demand and supply, government has taken a number of measures with a view to both augment domestic availability and managing demand, he said adding that these measures have helped reduce the extent of price rise.