Govt removes R 32 BPL cap, to set up new panel

New Delhi: Under attack over the Rs32 per capita per day cut off for poverty line, the government on Monday decided to remove the condition. The development came after a meeting between Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia and Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh in which they claimed that they have resolved the issue.

"We are clearly, categorically, and unequivocally saying that there is no link between the state wise poverty estimates and the selection of beneficiaries. A new expert committee will be set up so that no poor and deprived household is excluded," said Ramesh while addressing a press conference jointly with Ahluwalia.

"No caps will be externally imposed. The Planning Commission and the Rural Development Ministry will work out a new method so that no poor household is excluded," said Ramesh.

Clarifying that the Planning Commission had not fixed the Rs 32 cap to be categorised as a BPL, Ahluwalia said, "This is the lowest level. This is not the view of the Planning Commission. It was fixed in 1973. Clearly it is rock bottom level of existence. Planning Commission has not taken the view that benefits should be restricted to BPL."

Addressing the media, Ahluwalia also said that these figures were not used for extending benefits to the deprived sections of the population.

"People allege that the Planning Commission is trying to understate poverty which is simply not true...," he said while addressing a joint press conference with Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh.

Ahluwalia, who returned from his 10-day-long foreign visit on Saturday, had met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the issue on Sunday.

Earlier on Monday, Ahluwalia had said: "Jairam and I had a very good meeting. I think we have resolved a number of important issues... actually all the important issues. I think we are in complete agreement," Ahluwalia told reporters after the meeting.

"There is broad consensus on the linkage between poverty line and rural development," Ramesh said after the meeting, which among others was attended by Plan panel members Abhijit Sen, Mihir Shah, Syeda Hameed and Narendra Jadhav.

He had discussed with Singh the fallout of the controversy relating to the affidavit in the Supreme Court, which said that persons consuming items worth more than Rs 32 per day in urban areas (Rs 26 in rural areas) are not poor.

Planning Commission had come under flak following the affidavit submitted in the Supreme Court, which said that persons consuming items worth more than Rs32 per day in urban areas (Rs26 in rural areas) are not poor.

As per the affidavit, a family of five spending less than Rs 4,824 per month (at June, 2011, prices) in urban areas will fall in the BPL (Below Poverty Line) category. The expenditure limit for a family in rural areas has been fixed at Rs 3,905.

The number of poor entitled to BPL benefits, as per the affidavit, has been estimated at 40.74 crore, as against 37.2 crore estimated at the time of accepting the Tendulkar Committee report.

Rahul asked panel to rethink

Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi is believed to have intervened in the matter and has reportedly asked the Plan panel to do a rethink on its definition of poverty.

Even Ramesh had earlier expressed disagreement over the Commission's formula for arriving at the poverty line of Rs 32 a day and Rs 26 a day in urban and rural areas respectively.

Besides, National Advisory Council (NAC) member Aruna Roy and Harsh Mander challenged the Rs 32 per person poverty definition of the Commission.

Sonia opposed Commission's poverty definition 

Other members of the NAC, which is headed by Congress President Sonia Gandhi, too had opposed Commission's definition.

Ridiculing the Commission's poverty line, NAC member N C Saxena had said, "On Rs 32 a day, you know only dogs and animals can live... People who are spending below Rs 32 they are poorest of the poor. You can call them destitute; you can call them people living in sub-human level."

Concerned over the public outcry, Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni had said, "The Planning Commission had given an affidavit. When we asked for information from the panel regarding it, we were told that it is an initial document and not the final document."

These figures, she had said, "could undergo a change, who knows some other statistics may come up, which is acceptable to the Planning Commission. There is concern among people. There is certain disquiet in the civil society and some sections. They believe the statistics are perhaps somewhat removed from reality."

How much needed for roti, kapda, siksha? R 25, says Montek and co

New Delhi: Good food, proper health care and quality education — all for a mere Rs 25 per head at a time when inflation is soaring and people are angry with the government.

Sounds incredible? The Planning Commission, at least, does not think so.

On Tuesday, the commission filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court saying a minimum daily income of Rs 125 would be the sole criterion for any family (generally considered to have five members) seeking government approval for below poverty line (BPL) status, which makes it eligible for welfare schemes.

Following repeated reminders from the court, the commission filed its affidavit. Representatives of the commission told the court that the prime minister’s office had gone through the affidavit, which is based on the findings of the Suresh Tendulkar committee.

“The recommended poverty lines ensure adequacy of actual private expenditure per capita near the poverty lines on food, education and health,” the affidavit read.

Though the UPA had harped on its concern for the aam aadmi and used it as the poll plank in 2004 and 2009, the affidavit practically seals the poverty line for the poor and the marginalised in the country.

At a time when vegetables prices are rising by the day, oil companies are increasing petrol and kerosene prices every now and then, and there are talks of doing away with the subsidy on LPG cylinders, it would not be too wrong to say that the government wants the poor to starve to get BPL status.

The affidavit, however, drew sharp reactions from NC Saxena, the Supreme Court-appointed food commissioner. Terming it “insensitive”, he said the cut-off amount would be more effective in deciding if families are starved rather than their poverty level. If the commission has its way, most of the poor in the country will have to forgo various welfare schemes in operation, he said. “In fact, 80% of people live with less than Rs80 per day. The commission has completely ignored this… as a result we have a badly worded affidavit from the government.”

Saxena’s colleague Biraj Patnaik made a scathing remark on the affidavit. “This shows the moral bankruptcy of the commission and the government,” he said. “They just don’t care about the poor… this is a very insensitive stand.” Members of Parliament get subsidised food in canteens but “when it comes to helping the poor the government wants few people to get even the minimum benefits”, Patnaik said. “The government wants to use the 1991 census figures to determine the entitlements of the poor.”

Activists, too, have criticised the government stand. Forget proper health care, nowadays you do not even get an aspirin tablet for one rupee, they say.

Aruna Roy, member of the National Advisory Council that acts as an interface with civil society, said the affidavit reflected the government’s lack of emapathy for the poor and a “perspective completely divorced from reality”. “It is obvious that this extremely low estimate is aimed at artificially reducing the number of people below the poverty line, thereby reducing government expenditure on the poor.”