After facing a barrage of criticism on the issue of poverty line during the last few months, the Planning Commission has decided to appoint a technical committee to look into the whole issue afresh.
Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia said here on Saturday that the committee of experts would be appointed in a couple of weeks. The terms of reference were being worked out and the commission would notify it once the exercise was completed.
Task for experts
Speaking to mediapersons on the sidelines of the launch of the Prime Minister's Rural Development Fellowship programme here, Mr. Ahluwalia said he never meant to arbitrarily bring down the figures of the poor in the country. The Planning Commission would never arrive at a decision on the status of poverty on its own. The estimates would be done by expert panels engaged by it, he explained.
The Suresh Tendulkar Committee had put the people below poverty line (BPL) at slightly lesser than 30 per cent (360 million) in 2009-10, down from 37.2 per cent in 2004-05. The strategy of inclusive growth during the United Progressive Alliance rule had brought down poverty by 1.5 percentage points every year after 2004-05, while it had come down only by 0.74 percentage points during 1993-94 and 2004-05, Mr. Ahluwalia stated.
Debated figures
On the much debated figures of Rs. 32 per capita income per day in urban areas and Rs. 26 per capita income per day in rural areas to decide the status of poverty, the Plan panel deputy chief said the numbers were arrived at by social activists and not by the Planning Commission.
“What we told the Supreme Court was that Rs. 4,800 income per family per month in urban areas and Rs. 3,900 in rural areas is the line of poverty,” he said.
The 20 per cent of people above the poverty line were also poor but they were slightly better off than those below the line. But for the drought conditions in 2009, the poverty would have come down further. The 2011-12 National Sample Survey Organisation study results to be released in early 2013 would definitely bring down poverty further, he said.
However, Mr. Ahluwalia said the poverty line was not linked to the implementation of programmes such as the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, Right to Education Act and Food Security Act (FSA). “It is the Planning Commission which recommended coverage of 46 per cent population under the FSA,” he reminded. It was not true that decline in BPL people would take away benefits from them.
Union Minister for Rural Development Jairam Ramesh said they were delinking the total sanitation scheme and the National Rural Livelihoods Mission from the poverty line. He termed the debate on poverty line completely ill-informed and hysterically trivialised.
PTI adds:
Mr. Ramesh on Saturday took a dig at MPs who criticised the methodology adopted by the Tendulkar Committee for redefining the term 'poor', saying members raising the issue were probably only aware of Sachin Tendulkar, not Suresh Tendulkar.
“Those Members of Parliament may probably have thought it is Sachin Tendulkar. They did not know it was Suresh Tendulkar,” Mr. Ramesh told reporters, when asked about several MPs criticising the methodology adopted by the Tendulkar Committee set up in the year 2005 by the Planning Commission to suggest criteria for determining poverty line and poverty estimation.
Coming to the rescue of the Planning Commission Deputy Chairman, who was the target of attack both inside and outside Parliament after the panel put out the poverty numbers, Mr. Ramesh claimed the rate of poverty reduction after 2004 has been double the rate of poverty reduction in previous 10 years.
Keywords: BPL estimates, poverty line, planning commission, Jairam Ramesh
Montek Singh Ahluwalia Lives in the fools of paradise. We the people of India (90%) can't expect anything from these Guys ( Mr. Manmohan Singh, Montek Singh Ahluwalia and Prannav Mukherji) because all are busy pleasing the boss. First Obama and other corporates, so they can even say that the person with income of one rupee can't be considered as un-employee because he is earning money. or the family having the land equal to the 1 square meter can't be considered as land less, or children having food once in a week can't be considered as starved because ultimately they are having food, or there is a difference between human and citizens, Citizens are those agree with Montek singh findings and follow the findings as it is, these peoples have every right to survive, humans are those who raise the question on the findings of the planning commission and these peoples can be fatl for the state as well a citizen so keep away from these human beings.
An illiterate rickshaw-puller could have prepared a better report than these educated and high profile people.
Only when a person has an income of rupees 10000 per month can he
support his family of 4 by paying 4000 rupees in rent and rest in bare
minimum in food and transportation. By governments own account per
capita income is rupees 50000 annually which means for many people the
monthly income is 4200 rupees. How can the govt expect these people to
participate in education of their children when just enact RTE on
paper. This issue does not need a rocket scientist although these
ministers seem to think they are. I will tell you mr Montek and mr
Jairam you must be both BPI ie below proper intelligence if you cant
work out that a family of 4 needs at least rupees 15000 to survive per
month. anyone below this income is BPL. If you really want to bring
poverty down bring inflation down to 2-3 percent by addressing the
infrastructure constraints as inflation in India is only due to
infrastructure deficiency not due to growth as Indian growth is false
growth as it is eaten away due to inflation.
Government has implemented Integrated Rural Development program from 1979-1999 and Swarnjayanyi Gram Swarozgar Yojana from 1999-2011 and now redesigned National Rural Livelihood Mission in addition to MNNREG Scheme criminally wasting tax payers hard earned money. This resulted in fattening politicians and bureaucrats leaving poor aside. Let independent commission evaluate these programs. Besides, billions of rupees have been spent and continue to be spent in Rae-Bareli and Amethi constituencies since Indira Gandhi was the PM. This too needs to be evaluated by an independent professional institutions. Their reports must be tabled in Parliament for discussion and put on public domain for comments. It is surprising whether Jairam Ramesh is reading allthese comments appearing in India's newspapers. God may save the country.
Jairam Ramesh is dropping names. Yesterday it was business school graduates to fight Naxalites. Today Suresh Tendulkar. Awe-inspiring names indeed. What has the price of dal to do with Suresh Tendulkar's methodology or what Jairam Ramesh's financial management taught at IIMs? Why does he think that a management graduate knows better than a district collector about development? The best quality water melon, Sugar Baby, that sells at Crawford Market for Rs.25 does not command even Rs.2 at Karjat. If farmers cart their produce to urban markets they simply cannot sell. There is a network of big merchants, municipal officers, and gangsters which is difficult to penetrate. Ramesh may be counting the price realised by the farmer, not the price paid by the consuner in a city like Mumbai when he support Ahluwalia's cut off. Both should be made to live on the income they prescribe.
It makes me really sad to even think of the distressing state our nation finds itself in. I am a salaried middle class individual living in Bangalore. The daily to and fro bus fare that I spend is Rs. 30/-. How can the government even think of determining poverty line at Rs. 32/- for urban cities? I think while Mr. Ahluwalia is not the only one to be taken to task for such an unbelievably naive and blind gesture of poverty reduction, he certainly plays a major role in the drama played out by the government in systematically exterminating the marginalized sections of the society. If only he could use his World Bank brain with some compassion and benevolence..!! You would require much more than a Post Doctoral degree and a sophisticated vocabulary of economic terms learnt from the west to help India fight poverty Mr.Deputy Chairman.
Lakhs of crores is the language that politicians understand. Rupees are sommething that are obsolete.
Is Ramesh an MP?, Oh no, NOT. He will not go to such low level to contest and
elected by people who earn Rs.22.42! He is like Manmohan Singh etc are all NOT
MPs elected by people but selected by THE ....!! . So he can redicule MPs- those
third rate fellows are elected by those people whom he brought above poverty line
with Rs.22.42 with brilliant fellow Montek who hired Tandulkar, NOT Sachin, you
uneducated MPs. Sure, he can explain the methodology, rational, reality, how
much this ..Rs. 22.4234785 really means etc. to less brilliant MPs. But he can't
redicule MPs like that. Ramesh you are going the way the guy who said "Cattle
Class", what is his name??. At least he was elected MP. Watch your words Ramesh!!
The condescension dripping from his words truly befits a person who is seen as someone who bulldozed all opposition against introduction of Genetically Modified crops in India on one hand and his single minded politically motivated use of the "Green-Card" to stall projects in states like Orissa.
Every government has a megalomaniac.This one has them in majority!!
It is quite normal for the intellectual persons like Mr.Ramesh to be snobbish and arrogant. I am not surprised by his sarcasm. Somehow they have come to honestly believe that Brahma had exhausted stock of intelligence on persons like him.
Mr. Ramesh ridiculing those who questioned the Planning Commission's stats is so unfortunate. Would't it be nice and brave to own up the mistake rather to defend the indefensible? Tell the poor masses that all efforts will be taken to eliminate the poverty. Of course you the government can't solve it overnight. Poor people had been patient but there is limit for very thing. Sixty years after independence poor people expect more.
Hello my dear Montek Singh, Could you please support BPL limits that your commission has put. How can a small family with one husband, wife, child can spend a normal daily life with just 28/- in cities? Where are we getting vegetables for Rs. 10/KG. Forget he gives Egg, Meat to his family, he takes Rice, Wheat, Oil, Sugar, Fuel from ration. Then who will consider the cost bear by father for his children education, if he is aware of importance of education? Neglecting this point, Is our government ignorant of our mission towards 100% literacy and eradicating malnutrition among children? How fool minister like Ramesh supporting these ridiculous outcome of the Commission survey?? Also the reduction in poverty is result out of Time, not because of steps taken by our 'Aam Admi' Government. Even a child will say this.
Mr Jairam must be having rather a 'sick' sense of humour to think that or MP's (and by extension, the population of India) would think that Sachin Tendulkar would be writing reports about the poverty levels in India. The 'mandarins' in the Planning Commission nowadays seem to have no real touch with reality and I feel sad about it as my grandfather Dr A N Khosla was once a part of this august body.
even Mr. Ramesh's son must be spending much more than Rs. 28.65 as his pocket money everyday. These great politicians have no clue whatsoever about the difficulties of the aam admi for who they trumpet so much. This government is proving again and again that it is against the poor and only for corporates and big business.
Tomorrow is Holy Easter when people from all walks of life-BPL ,APL,RICH- like to have a
decent food after returning home from midnight mass.Today tomato is Rs 40/ kg,onion
Rs.20/ kg,meat Rs 180-300 / kg,fish Rs 80-400/ kg and rice Rs 28/ kg.The much relished
biriyani is Rs 90/ plate.By the Figure of Rs 32 in urban areas and Rs 26/ day in rural
areas,there will be none to get the benefit of envisaged food security bill.Inflation in items
for food is going up and value of money going down-these are to be studied at micro
level.A uniform measure for BPL and APL for a sub-continent like India may not be
realistic.What is for metropolis like Delhi,Chennai,Mumbai and Kolkatta may not be true for
Srinagar,Guwahati,Bhubeneswar and Alleppy.K V Peter
Just to limit the spending and limit the number of BPL populations these jerks are making mockery of planning.
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