Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Minister Anirudh Singh said that according to the guidelines of the government of India, the right to include and remove names in the BPL list rests only with the concerned gram sabhas.

In a written reply to a question asked by Congress MLA Kewal Singh Pathania, Anirudh Singh on Wednesday informed the House that the lists are reviewed every year with a view to excluding names of ineligible families and including names of eligible families.

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“As far as the state government is concerned, it ensures that the prescribed criteria are met for inclusion of eligible people in the BPL list and exclusion of ineligible ones,” he added.

Singh further said that in the year 2018, the state government issued a detailed notification for revision of BPL list annually. According to this notification, a committee was constituted at each panchayat level, which was notified by the concerned block development officer.

Panchayat Secretary Patwari and a public representative were included in this committee, he stated. The list is presented before the gram sabha for deciding the final list of eligible people.

Singh said as per the guidelines issued by the government from time to time, the list of names prepared by the committee is presented before the gram sabhas and the selection made by the gram sabhas is final.

Further, the SDM has been authorised to inquire into complaints or allegations on the basis of applications or allegations of wrongful selection, he added.

Singh said after inquiry, the SDM may order the panchayat to remove the name of the ineligible family from the BPL list.

“In case of wrong selection of BPL families by Gram Sabha, an objection/appeal can be submitted before SDM within one month. If the complainant is not satisfied with the decision of the SDM, further appeal can be filed with the Deputy Commissioner,” he said, adding that the number of families to be selected in each Gram Panchayat is fixed and vacancies, if any, are filled by the Gram Sabha.

In a written reply to a question by Vipin Singh Parmar, Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri said that the Himachal Pradesh Electric Policy 2022 has been issued by the state government. If any shortcoming is felt in this plan, then the government will consider amending it or formulating a new electric policy, he added.