'Surrender TV, fridge, two-wheelers if you hold BPL card': Karnataka minister

The minister added that those who do not qualify on these parameters should return their cards or face action.

(PLAYKarnataka's food and civil supplies minister, Umesh V Katti, on Monday courted controversy when he said that those who hold BPL (below poverty line) cards should surrender possession of items like televisions, refrigerator, two-wheelers among other products before March 31.

Fil photo: BPL (Below Poverty Line) beneficiaries stand in a queue while maintaining social distancing to collect ration from government distribution temporary depot. (ANI)

"There are parameters for possessing a BPL card. They should not have more than five acres of land, motorcycle, TV or fridge," Katti said in Belagavi, about 500 kilometres from Bengaluru.

Other conditions that hold ground for disqualification include earning an income of more than ₹1.2 lakh per year. He added that those who do not qualify on these parameters should return their cards or face action.

The minister said that officials will carry out surveys to determine if people or families holding BPL card are legal.

Katti later clarified that he was only going by the rules formed by the earlier government.

"The statements made by a minister of the BJP is anti-people. This makes it clear that the BJP government does not understand the plight of the people," Congress legislator and former food and civil supplies minister, UT Khader, said.