MLA Bikram Singh Thakur opposes new BPL norms, labels Congress ‘anti-poor’

Former minister and BJP MLA from Jaswan-Pragpur, Bikram Singh Thakur, criticised the Congress-led state government over the newly issued guidelines for the selection of Below Poverty Line (BPL) and Antyodaya beneficiaries, describing the party as 'anti-poor' and 'inhuman'.

- PT News

Talking to mediapersons, Thakur alleged that the government was "eliminating the poor instead of eliminating poverty" and claimed that the revised criteria had resulted in the exclusion of nearly 90 to 95 per cent of BPL and Antyodaya families across the state from welfare schemes. He warned the government of launching a statewide agitation if it failed to immediately withdraw the notification and restore the previous BPL selection system. The senior BJP leader said the new norms imposed unjustified and complicated conditions on economically weaker families, compelling them to spend thousands of rupees on income, land and other certificates, only to be declared ineligible later. Calling the provisions a "cruel joke" on the poor, Thakur objected to the clause that disqualifies families having men in the 18 to 59 age group. He argued that households