Bhubaneswar, Nov. 13: The long overdue survey for enumeration of families living below poverty line (BPL) will start in the state from Monday. The survey will take place after 14 years, during which the state’s poverty profile is believed to have changed drastically.

State panchayati raj director S.K. Lohani, who is the nodal officer for the survey, said: “Seven districts will be surveyed in the first phase. Though it was initially decided that the BPL survey will be conducted in Nabarangpur district also, the exercise was stopped keeping in mind the ongoing bypoll in Umerkote Assembly constituency.”

The survey will be conducted in Koraput, Malkangiri, Rayagada, Balanagir, Kalahandi, Phulbani and Gajapati districts.

“Our job will be somewhat easier as we already have a comprehensive database compiled in 2010 as part of a nation-wide exercise. We are confident of 100 per cent accuracy,” said officials, adding that the BPL families would have to be identified out of the total 85 lakh families in the state.

The survey has special significance for the state which is still running its public distribution system on the basis of the BPL enumeration in 1997, which, some believe, is grossly outdated and continues to deprive a sizeable chunk of poor families of the benefits of subsidised food grains, especially rice.

The state government provides rice to all BPL families at Rs 2 per kg.

Though a BPL survey was conducted in the state in 2002, its findings became disputed with the Centre refusing to accept the count. While the state claimed to have identified 44 lakh BPL families in that survey, the Centre insisted on a cut-off number of 34 lakh.