By IANS,
Kolkata : West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will write to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh requesting the central government to accept the state’s BPL list, a minister said here Friday.
The estimate of people living below poverty line (BPL) prepared by the state government includes about 46 percent of the population.
The state’s estimate of BPL population is higher than that of the Planning Commission which pegs the figure at 28.3 percent for West Bengal.
“If the central government accepts our list prepared after a survey, then the state will be entitled to more funds,” Panchayat Minister Subrata Mukherjee told reporters here.
He said the BPL list prepared by the erstwhile Left Front government included about 48 percent of the population.
“So, our chief minister will write to the prime minister requesting that the central government give credence to our list and release funds accordingly,” he said.