BPL list names corporate heads but no slum dwellers

While the list records corporate heads and CESC officials as people living below the poverty line, hundreds of slum dwellers have been kept out of the list’s purview.

Shibshankar Bose, a resident of Peyara Bagan slum area in ward 39, had applied for a BPL card recently. A rickshaw puller who has to support a family of four, he was surprised not to find his name in the BPL list.

So is the case of Rathin Haldar (50) and Kasiram Samajpati (42). A resident of 39, B Madhav Lane, Haldar works as a helping hand in a roadside eatery. He lives in a 10X10 room in the slum area along with five other family members. Samajpati (42), a resident of Beltala Road works in a tea stall near Minto Park. None of their names feature in the list. But one Surendra Kumar Jain, living under a fictitious address in Ritchie Road has found mention in the list.

Moreover, the monthly income of a person should not exceed beyond Rs 412 if he is to get registered in the BPL list. Interestingly, Bhanwarlal Jain, a rich businessman residing at 6, Ritchie Road appears in the list. In another instance of gross negligence, Nishant Patel and Ramanant Patel, residents of 57, Ritchie Road have been mentioned in the list. The catch: there is no building numbered 57 in that area.

Sujoy Bose, Bimal Bose, Nikhil Shetty, Harish Shetty, Tuhin Dutta and Anil Dutta among others have also found place in the list. But their income does not fulfil the BPL criteria. The same story is repeated in New Alipore as well.

Accepting the errors, Mayor Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya said, “It is an unfortunate incident. The time period to edit the list has been extended till mid May,” he said.