50% of Bengal are Beggars

Nearly half of Bengal in BPL list
Pranesh Sarkar From The Statesman

KOLKATA, 3 DEC: Believe or not, nearly half of the population of Marxist-ruled Bengal is reeling below the poverty line.
The revised BPL list that is soon to be published reveals that 44 per cent people in the state are living below the poverty line. Senior officials at Writers’ Buildings said the number of poor in the revised BPL list, based on the results of the Rural Household Survey, would increase by 10 per cent. As of now, official figures peg the BPL population of the state at 34 per cent of the total population.
The revised BPL list will certainly give the lie to the CPI-M-led state government's claims that it has given a boost to the rural economy across the state over the past three decades.
Senior officials also hinted that the figure could go much higher if the recommendations sent by various districts are accepted. Till now, 292 blocks out of 341 blocks in the state have prepared the revised BPL list. But the lists sent by 50 blocks have been sent back for rechecking as these blocks had recommended more than 50 percent of the total population to be brought under the BPL category.
“We have received the revised list from 292 blocks and we have received preliminary reports from the rest of the blocks. Though the lists of some blocks have been sent back for revision due to abnormal hike in the number of poor people, the figures clearly indicate that at least 44 percent of the total population in the state would come under BPL category in the revised list,” said an official.
“Districts like Birbhum, Bankura, Purulia, West and East Midnapore, Jalpaiguri etc would house the maximum number of poor people. However, we have sent back lists of 17 blocks of East Midnapore for revision as about 55-60% of the population here were proposed to be brought under BPL category,” the official added.
Officials also said the Centre provides assistance under different schemes meant for BPL people, for up to 26 per cent of a state's total population. If the number of poor in any of the states is higher than that figure, the state government has to shoulder the rest of the expenditure required to extend facilities to the additional number of poor.
Senior officials also said when the BPL list was prepared the last time, a number of poor people were left out. It was alleged that as the state was not eager to shoulder the additional financial burden, the number of poor was shown as 34 percent, when the actual figure could have been much higher.
But this has backfired for the Left parties, which was evident when the Left parties lost their traditional vote bank in the rural areas in the past few elections. Now that the state government has decided to rectify the fault, it has to take the bitter pill.


The above is the result of 40 years of Left Front rule in Bengal.
No wonder the CPM has lost in Bengal.
It has failed on all fronts.
Agricultural and Industrial production has gone down.
There has been an increase in the industries which have closed.
They have allowed unrestricted entry of foreigners from Bangladesh to shore up their vote bank.
However that vote bank too has deserted them in the face of poverty.
After 40 years of CPM rule, 50% of the people of Bengal are beggars