684,000 households under Haryana scanner offer “false” income details to take advantage of BPL, AAY benefits

Over the past three years, Haryana’s Poverty Line (BPL) and Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) card holders have surged, with 684,000 families being scanned by the government’s scanners as false income details are allegedly provided in the Parivar Pehchan Patra (PPP), thus gaining benefits for the poor.

Launched in 2019, PPP is a unique family ID system designed to facilitate “paperless” and “faceless” delivery of government programs, services and benefits.

The government uses special software, opinions from the crime investigation department, and data from the fair price store identified the households, state sources said. The number of such households is the largest in the Sirsa and Hisar areas.

Earlier this month, the government had sent harsh text messages to the families warning them to voluntarily correct their income details in the PPP by April 20 or face consequences. “In Parivar Pehchan Patra, the family government has notified the state government during the parliamentary meeting. Please enter the correct information by April 20 or legal action can be initiated, including restoration of improper benefits. PPP is the basis of trust, please stay strong with the authorization of Haryana Parivar Patra, please send a message on April 3.

“Another opportunity”

According to Satish Khola, state coordinator of the Haryana PPP Authority, the government is giving families that provide incorrect income details or create multiple family IDs at the same address, whether intentionally or incorrectly, with the opportunity to correct their information in the PPP to avoid legal action.

“The goal of Chief Minister Nayab Saini is to make PPP an impeccable, accurate document with the support of citizens, which is a step toward achieving this goal friendly. These people have the opportunity to correct their income details and merge multiple family IDs. They can do this easily by logging into the agency’s website or the government will take appropriate action, otherwise Mr. Khola said.

As of April this year, Haryana has 76,81,652 PPPs covering 2,93,12,014 members, while 51,96,380 families hold BPL and Aay ration cards. This shows that 67.64% of households in the state live below the poverty line, which contradicts Haryana’s status as one of India’s most prosperous states, with an average income of Rs 3,25,759.

The Rohtak MLA Bharat Bhushan Batra of Congress raised this issue in Parliament during the budget meeting. Speech Hinduhe accused the BJP government of issuing large amounts of BPL and AAY ration cards in the political gains last year without proper verification. He claimed that the government relies on PPP holders’ self-verification of income to issue ration cards, bypassing the mandatory physical verification stipulated in the PPP Act.

As many as 37,62,893 BPL cards were issued between April 2022 and September 2024, increasing the number of beneficiary households from 8,82,417 to 46,45,310. During this period, 54,705 new AAY cards were also released, bringing the total beneficiaries to 2,92,845.

Possible reasons

Mr Hora said that it seems that the disproportionate BPL family may be attributed in part to the Haryana government’s increase of the maximum income limit for the BPL family from Rs 12 million to Rs 1.8 million in December 2022, while PPP issued the PPP to immigrant families in the “One Country, One Country” program.

“After the introduction of the PPP, we removed 9.6 million unqualified families from the PDS system, but added 1.6 million new BPL families and increased income restrictions. About 500,000 immigrant families were also issued.”

Mr Khola said the revenue details provided in the PPP were self-verified and cross-checked by local and departmental committees, but “the difference cannot be completely ruled out”.