Chennai: “On going through the report, we are of the view that there is no irregularity or arbitrariness in the special financial help scheme announced by the government,” said the Madras High Court bench yesterday, thus dismissing a PIL challenging the Tamilnadu government’s move to extend a cash assistance of Rs 2,000 each to about 60 lakh BPL families.
The bench comprising Justices S Manikumar and Subramonioum Prasad said it was a policy decision of the government to provide special financial help to the poor. Also the State was recently affected by the recent Gaja cyclone. Assistance for natural calamities and drought cannot be interfered with.
The petitioner ‘Satta Panchayat Iyakka‘ had complained that the number of below poverty line families given by the government was inflated and asked to hold the disbursement of the amount till the correct figure was submitted.
The petition comes after the Chief Minister K PalaniswamiĀ announced in the state assembly that Rs 2,000 each would be given to about 60 lakh BPL families across Tamilnadu.
The government yesterday informed the court that 32.13 lakh people in rural areas and 23.54 lakh in urban local bodies had been identified as poor and very poor families.Ā A copy of the report was submitted in the court.
According to the report, Participatory Identification of Poor (PIP) process was conducted in 31 districts between 2006-07 and 2014-15.