The Himachal Pradesh government has revised the guidelines for identifying families living below the poverty line (BPL), allowing households whose adult members have completed 50 days of work under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) to also be eligible for inclusion in the BPL list.
A spokesperson of the Himachal Pradesh Rural Development Department said that the amendment has been made to the BPL guidelines issued on February 4, 2026, in order to liberalise the eligibility criteria and include more deserving families engaged in rural wage employment.
Under the revised provision in Para (iv), families where all adult members have completed at least 50 days of work under MGNREGA during the previous financial year will now qualify for inclusion in the BPL category. The department said this change has been incorporated into the ongoing selection process.
Officials said that applications received during Phase-I to Phase-IV will also be examined under the updated guidelines. In addition, fresh applications submitted by the deadline of March 12, 2026, will be considered for inclusion.
Following the completion of the verification process, the Block Level Committee will notify and publish the final BPL list under Phase-V of the selection process by March 15, 2026.
The department clarified that all actions, lists and decisions finalised during the first four phases will remain unchanged and fully valid. Only the revised inclusion and exclusion criteria will apply specifically to the fifth phase of the process.
Apart from this amendment, other procedures related to verification, approval, appeals and maintenance of records will continue to follow the provisions laid down in the government communication issued on March 19, 2025, the spokesperson added.
