To get the Below Poverty Line figures in perspective, we need to closely monitor the numbers driving the Corporate Plunder Line.
One Tendulkar makes the big scores. The other wrecks the averages. The Planning Commission clearly prefers Suresh to Sachin. Using Professor Tendulkar's methodology, it declares that there's been another massive fall in poverty. Yes, another (“more dramatic in the rural areas”). “Record Fall in Poverty” reads one headline. The record is in how many times you've seen the same headline over the years. And how many times poverty has collapsed, only to bounce back when the math is done differently.
And so, a mere 29.9 per cent of India's population is now below the official poverty line (BPL). The figure was 37.2 per cent in 2004-05. The “line” is another story in itself, of course. But on the surface, rural poverty has declined by eight percentage points to log in at 33.8 per cent. That's down from 41.8 per cent in 2004-05. And urban poverty fell by 4.8 percentage points from 25.7 to 20.9 per cent in the same period. Millions have been dragged above the poverty line, without knowing it.
Undoing bogus methodology
Media amnesia fogs the “lowest-ever” figures, though. These are not the “lowest-ever.”
“Kill me, I say,” said Prof. Madhu Dandavate in 1996, chuckling. “I just doubled poverty in your country today.” What that fine old gentleman had really done, as deputy chairperson of the Planning Commission, was to jettison the bogus methodology peddled by that body before he came to head it the same year. Even minor changes in methodology or poverty line can produce dramatically differing estimates.
The fraud he undid was “an exercise” bringing poverty down to 19 per cent in 1993-94. And that, from 25.5 per cent in 1987-88. These were the “preliminary results of a Planning Commission exercise based on National Sample Survey data” (Economic & Political Weekly, January 27, 1996). Now if these figures were true, then poverty has risen ever since. And remember, highlighting that historic fall was an honest Finance Minister. The never-tell-a-lie Dr. Manmohan Singh. One business daily ran a hilarious “exclusive” on this at the time. Poverty falls to record low of 19 per cent, “government officials say.” This was the best news since Independence. But the modest officials remained anonymous, knowing how stupid they'd look. In the present era, they hold press conferences to flaunt their fraud.
The “lowest ever at 19 per cent” fraud was buried in the ruins of the April 1996 polls. So was the government of the day. The “estimate” was not heard of again. Now we have the 29.9 per cent avatar. Surely that's a rise of 10.9 percentage points in 16 years? Or just another methodological fiddle.
However, the new Planning Commission numbers have achieved one thing. They've united most of Parliament on the issue. Members from all parties have blasted the “estimates” and called for explanations.
There's also the Tendulkar report's own fiddles. As Dr. Madhura Swaminathan points out, the committee dumped the calorie norms of “2,100 kcal per day for urban areas and 2,400 kcal for rural areas.” It switched to “a single norm of 1,800 kcal per day.” And did so citing an “FAO norm.” As Dr. Swaminathan observed: “the standards set by the Food and Agriculture Organisation for energy requirements are for “minimum dietary energy requirements” or MDER. That is, “the amount of energy needed for light or sedentary activity.” And she cites an FAO example of such activity. “…a male office worker in urban areas who only occasionally engages in physically demanding activities during or outside working hours.”
As Dr. Swaminathan asks: “Can we assume that a head load worker who carries heavy sacks through the day is engaged in light activity?” — The Hindu, February 5, 2010.
Measuring poverty
The media rarely mention that there are other methodologies for measuring poverty on offer. Also set in motion by this same government. The National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector (NCEUS) saw BPL Indians as making up 77 per cent of the population. The N.C. Saxena-headed BPL Expert group placed it at around 50 per cent. Like the Tendulkar Committee, these two were also set up by government. While differing wildly, all three pegged rural poverty at a higher level than government did. Meanwhile, we will have many more committees on the same issue until one of them gives this government the report it wants. The one it can get away with. (The many inquiries on farm suicides exemplify this.)
That the Planning Commission thought they could slip the present bunkum by sets a new benchmark for — and marriage of — arrogance and incompetence. First, they sparked outrage with their affidavit in the Supreme Court. There they defended a BPL cut-off line of Rs.26 a day (rural) and Rs.32 (urban). Now they hope to get by with numbers of Rs.22.42 a day (rural) and Rs.28.35 a day (urban).
The same year the government and planning commission shot themselves in both feet in 1996, a leading Delhi think tank joined in. It came up with the “biggest ever study” done on poverty in the country. This covered over 30,000 households and queried respondents across more than 300 parameters. So said its famous chief at a meeting in Bhopal.
This stunned the journalists in the audience. Till then, they had been doing what most journalists do at most seminars. Sleeping in a peaceful, non-confrontational manner. The veteran beside me came alive, startled. “Did he mean they asked those households over 300 questions? My God! Thirty years in this line and the biggest interview I ever did had nine. That was with my boss's best friend. And my last question was ‘may I go now'?” We did suggest to the famous economist that battered with 300 questions, his respondents were more likely to die of fatigue than of poverty. A senior aide of the think tank chief took the mike to explain why we were wrong. We sent two investigators to each household, he said. Which made sense, of course: one to hold the respondent down physically, twisting his arm, while the other asked him 300 questions.
Now to the queue of BPL, APL, IPL, et al., may I add my own modest contribution? This is the CPL, or Corporate Plunder Line. This embraces the corporate world and other very well-off or “high net worth individuals.” We have no money for a universal PDS. Or even for a shrunken food security bill. We've cut thousands of crores from net spending on rural employment. We lag horribly in human development indicators, hunger indexes and nutritional surveys. Food prices keep rising and decent jobs get fewer.
Yet, BPL numbers keep shrinking. The CPL numbers, however, keep expanding. The CPL concept is anchored in the “Statement of Revenue Foregone” section of successive union budgets. Since 2005-06, for instance, the union government has written off close to Rs.4 lakh crore in corporate income tax. Over Rs.50,000 crore of that in the present budget. The very one in which it slashes thousands of crores from the MNREGS. Throw in concessions on customs and excise duties and the corporate karza maafi in this year's budget sneaks up to nearly Rs.5 lakh crore.
True, there are things covered in excise and customs that also affect larger sections, like fuel, for instance. But mostly, they benefit the corporate world and the very rich. In just this budget and the last one, we've written off Rs.1 lakh crore for diamonds, gold and jewellery in customs duties. That sort of money buys a lot of food security. But CPL trumps BPL every time. The same is true of write-offs on things like machinery. In theory, there's a lot that should benefit everybody: like the equipment hospitals import. In practice, most Indians will never enter the five-star hospitals that cash in on these benefits.
The total write-off on these three heads in eight years since 2005-06: Rs. 25.7 lakh crore. (See Table). That's over half a trillion U.S. dollars. Not far from 15 times the size of your 2G scam. Or over twice the Coal Scam, the latest addition to the CPL. Look at the table and think about BPL estimates working on cut-offs of Rs.22.42 a day rural and Rs.28.35 urban. To fix BPL, nix CPL.
Keywords: below poverty line, Planning Commission, Corporate Plunder Line, BPL, CPL, urban poverty, Union Finance Minister, National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector
This is a nice peace of work. As a banking professional in constant contact with black coats (investment bankers and their variants) I have seen how facts are twisted and figures are mutilated to project a rosy shining India. Hope more and more and more right thinking people would come out to call the bluff of a white washed India.
Mr.Sainath nailed it again. Its frustrating to see how important
statistics like poverty estimates are dealt in an infuriatingly shoddy
manner by the government agencies.
I anxiously await Sainath articles. My stats prof taught that measures with flaws can still be useful if they are consistently applied over time. Corrections for flaws can be made. But Sainath rightly cites government changes methods/marks so often that we cannot follow. Impossible to determine progress/decline. One mark that shames me is the raw calorie count. A measure of calories, especially the mix of protien /fat versus cheap carbohydrates (grains) is critical. Children who grow on poor carb heavy diets score lower in school in US. 2100 or more! with 1/3 fat and protien minimum would be a standard to reach for. Scap PDS and go for food coupons, with PDS grain sold in small private stores . As corps, Normal Profit in economics was taught to me to be 6-8%. Far more than this is near-criminal profiteering. Corp tax cuts/subsidies are meant to spur new hires and re-investment NOT 26 story homes and Swiss accounts. All else we hear are shoddy excuses. We too many now.
The statement 'And so, a mere 29.9 per cent of India's population is
now below the official poverty line (BPL)' betrays your ignorance of
the basic methodology used to compute the poverty line. It is the
amount consumed by the poorest 29.9% that determines the poverty line,
not the other way around. You have also missed mentioning the fact
that the parameters used to determine the PL now include other basics
like healthcare and education, which have become primary concerns of
even the poorest.
while we talk about price rise in almost every sector including food, i dont understand how the government can bring down the poverty line. Is the government saying cost of living has actually come down? Ask anyone who doesnot have someone else picking his grocery. He will tell you otherwise. Statistics doesn't reflect reality always.
Excellent, the arm twisting on 300 questions was rofl!
The real trouble is that the select few the real beneficiaries of this rotten system ensure to elect those who propagate this 'loot' culture primarily because the people at large do not see the game played at macro-level and continue deluding themselves in believing that all is hunky-dory as long as their bank balance is mounting. The real reason of poverty in India is the habit of saving money which in turn is due to insecurity feeling which makes people invest in Government schemes willingly thus allowing elected 'netas' gain popularity through mismanagement of funds, as I said abetting loot. Ask yourself, are you not saving money. If everybody gives the surplus money to poor instead of hoarding / saving in banks, this country called India will be more prosperous than any developed nation on this planet. Please do not blame anyone but yourself for this.
Remember, Vinoba Bhave.
I still have to meet an Indian (her in India) who isn't statistically
dumb! People holding high offices are so outdated and primitive with
their knowledge of statistics that it appalls me. Sadly, they are the
ones who take decisions for us & shape our future!
I do always enjoy sainath sir's writing. I would like to request him to give attention to the plight of the people of North Eastern states and to expose the apathy and wrong-doings by the governments and corporate sector.
we are observed that most of policy are not implemented properly by
our govt.this is the main reason for poverty.they can not able to
affordable our basic requirement.
Its a good article by sainath minus his usual rants on the corporates.Sainath has rightly pointed out that Government's BPL figures are ridiculous at best.These figures should have been for the destitute(the amount needed for mere survival to keep body alive) not poverty. To come out of poverty one needs sustained growth improvement in education,health,energy consumption and other indicators but not the subhuman existence that Government's talk about. However Sainath has this false position of tying every rich individual as immoral which is not correct.Being in a benevolent society of socialism produced even worst poverty where all people who are now in middle class were horribly poor before,the idea is to empower individuals and build their economic and intellectual capacities while curbing the leakages in Governance. Until we do that sympathy for poor and rants against the rich wont help.Poor aren't beggars to be provided doles but rather low capacity(present) people to be empowered.
Sainath has done Twain proud. I get The Hindu a day late in Pune but for some quaint liking of mine I wait to read it in print instead of online. And with Hindu's superb writers, Sainath being a crest gem, the wait is so worth the joy of reading the paper. I wonder if there's one other writer in India who can even remotely handle such a grim piece with this candour and humour. Superb and fine comedy yet the subject not losing its gravitas. Sainath's an inspiration for all those who wish to wield the pen.
I am diving deep into Optimists-well to get the courage to read the newspaper. Every day i learn i have been living with false sense of values. I regret having read about Gandhi and his values; these values are making my life difficult now. In fact i have been consciously taking my children away from Gandhi's values. My 9 yr daughter has asked me what is corruption? I gave her an example how her school/house leader is trying to manipulate scores during sport day. I was telling my daughter to never trust leaders. In fact leaders do not help us it is vice-versa that happens. I Guess we have to change and live with corruption and lack of laws.
This is reality check. Thank you Sai. A nation derives its strength from it's people. Here we are talking of human sustenence in twenties and thirty rupees. The only peope who will thrive here are the wolves. India is a very large country and remember Delhi has been razed seven times.Since mogul times it was famous for its brokers and fixers. Little has changed since then. One tends to sound cynical in these times, but then the circumstances are compelling.
It appears that the government is of the firm opinion that investment in corporations/businesses are the best bet, it tends to believe that they will keep growing endlessly. Now like all succcessful endeavours, businesses too need integrity as their core value.Do we find it here? Perhaps we need a better way to choose our corporate and political leaders. Suggestions are welcome?
Let us all pledge to feed as many people as we can affford. No 1800kcal capsules at Rs15/- per day. Please spare us statistical jugglery. I like the term CPL.
The union government and its Planning commission have surprisingly informed the people that poverty has decreased in the country as per Tendulkar committee and Sample survey organisation methodology. The facts have been disputed by the an former IAS official of proven integrity and senior member of the National Advisory Council N C Saxena! Saxena has pointed out that the present methodology of the Planning commission lacks different parameters like health, education, nutrition etc. AnD poverty is rising in India and if we apply these methodology over 70 percent of people of India are below poverty line. Saxena has threw light on these facts and disclosed that poverty has gone up to 70 percent in India. Last but not the least, Planning commission has also admitted lapses in determining poverty line. Why not an independent commission like Election commission of India to determine poor and rich in the country with sensible methodology? Sainath's piece has described amazing highhandedness of the Planning commission and the union government in determining poverty line (rural-Rs22.45 and urban Rs 28.75). Sadly it claims decrease in poverty in India? Methodology of Tendulkar and Sample Survey Organisation have no basis in determing poverty!It has really described "corporate Plunder line( CPL) over poor of India". Apart from writing off loans and liabilities of corporates and rich to the tune of Over Rs 80 lakh crore in the last five years in successive budgets, the union budget has this time also gave benefits to the tune of Rs one lakh crore in the excise and custom duty on gold, diaomnds etc to corporates and rich. Notably total remission on this head since 2005-2006 have gone up by Rs 25.7 lakh crore (15 times of two g scam and twice of coal scam)! Now we must think plunder of public money in such fashion by corporates, rich etc at cost of poor people of India in league with govt!
my blog www.kksingh1.blogspot.com
The Planning Commission seems to be coming up with dark humor instead of
reports and solutions, I mean how can they possibly come up with
something like this and have the courage to defend it. This is
outrageous. A very nice article Mr. Sainath, thanks for keeping unpaid
journalism alive!
Another gem from Mr Sainath .Dipped in sarcasm yet hitting all the right spots. Mr Ahluvalia does need some pills for introspection and the right prescription is here . Try this !
one more brilliant article.....thumbs up for P Sainath Sir.
Situation of poor in our country has been terrible, there is no doubt in this. Here there is need to understand that revenue forgone figures have to be analysed more deeply. Revenue forgone or tax subsidies is always given for certain concrete purpose. For example government gives huge subsidy to exporters. There are many exportable items which are labour intensive. Therefore, giving subsidies to them definitely help. Government has recently levied excise duty on branded as well as non branded jewellery. This resulted in huge uproar.So if this section has to be given exemption, there is upper limit defined for jewellery worker who will only pay this. So tax subsidies have lot of socio-economic implications. Further, India has to move towards less tax rates and higher base. What is important is to rationalize these tax subsidies and strengthening anti tax evasion mechanism.
It is hypocracy unveild by Sainath and hollowness of neo-liberal economy along with, with remarkable precision. Much more has to be said on this front.
It looks like development is a hurdle in democracy as every person wants
to be more & more developed including the politicians so nobody thinks
about the less developed poors who needs help for their development, in
a democratic country every one has same rights but here the advantage is
only to the rich people and not the poor one...
Everybody can see the jobs created by the government but nobody can
see the jobs destroyed by the government.In Soviet union everybody had
a job but still they had to wait 8Hours a day in a line for a loaf of
bread because the jobs were non-productive.Everybody had a job but
nobody produced nothing.A big government takes out the money out of
private sector(productive jobs)and spends it into non-productive
jobs.Imagine how much investment we would have if those comapanies
were allowed to keep their money may be they will expand their buisness and create more productive jobs.So yes we need more cuts in government spending and governemnt reveue. the governemnt should be put on diet.Thank god the governemnt has removed customs duty on gold.the price of gold(10 grams) in 1907 was 1 rupee 40 paise.Today it is 27,000.So rupee is not a good currency to your hard earned wealth and people of india should be allowed to get out of ruppee and get into gold.The future of rupee looks bleak.
The government should understand that major chunk of Indian population lives below BPL,their survival depends on the government,its high time they understand their responsibilities because they are not playing with numbers but with mere life of people.Allotting budget wont help until and unless the money reaches its intended destination.
More than often the measures of poverty is seen from anti-government perspective. But in reality it is very difficult to know ones total income per month. Everyday there are news mentioning the name of rich persons in the BPL lists. Since most of us don't file any income affidavit and the general income certificates are issued without any check, many powerful persons penetrate in the BPL list, not only this there is also a limit on the number of family that can be there in the BPL list and there no one checks income of each family. The reason is the inefficient system as well as the large population. The government must work to control population, increasing transparency in the system and do the governance from heart not just to remain in power. Sometimes heart understands better than mind :)
We have declared our nation as a socialist nation in our preamble and it seems every government which is in power is ignoring it.Corporate are getting concessions (CPL)/benefits because they are having lobbyist by their side, and who is lobbing for the common man? Most of the MP’s in current parliament are having their roots in agricultural background; they forgot their roots and are not concerned about the plight of marginal farmers and agricultural laborers.
If we proceed forward this way our actual BPL figures will surge irrespective of methodology we adopt to measure. But a ray of is provided for us via the constitution makers in the form of elections.
Disgrace to humanity, forget about nationality. This one ripped apart
the heinous acts of policy makers. I wonder if they ever think life has
a meaning!!
I guess they have used availability of television(TV) box at home as a benchmark for poverty. Everybody knows that people were given free TVs during recent elections in Tamil Nadu. So, poverty reduced !!
We should not worry about people who get rich by offering a good product
to the consumer. We should worry about the people who get rich by
government contracts or by getting in bed with the government(land
acquisition), these are the the people we should tax. We should also
remember that government does not have inherent wealth. If it has to
give it to somebody it has to take it from someone else. We don't
celebrate a poor man getting rich when he robs a bank. But he should
also should not send politicians and income tax department to the other
people houses just because they can afford it.We as a country should
believe in hardwork and freemarkets. Nobody has pushed more people all
over the world into poverty than socialism and communism. The Chinese
before 1980 and the soviet union are the best example. Today the Chinese
are more capitalists then anybody in this world.
Sainath: I have always enjoyed reading your pieces but this one is
priceless - I absolutely love the sarcasm! The article delves into some
of the practical issues of trying to calculate poverty levels in India
while also touching upon the dishonesty of governments in trying to get
themselves the most favourable results possible through this exercise.
It is not the responsibility of the union government to reduce
poverty.The people of india need a union government for national defense,foreign affairs and good judicial system and for nothing
else.Everything else has to be done by the state government.We need to
reduce the size and scope of the Union government.I don't understand
why we should embrace socialism, it has not worked in Soviet union and
not working in North Korea or Cuba.Why we be punished by socialism?
have we not seen the result of it in our country from last 6 years.The
ideal situation will be to shutdown the Planning commission and reduce
government spending.It will reduce the burden on the tax payer and
will work as good stimulus. Socialism not only makes rich people poor
but also poor people more poor.Socialism impoverishes everyone equally
if that is the goal.Remember that government does not have intrinsic
wealth if it has to give it to someone it has to take it from somebody
else.
Aaaand he is back. After a couple of drags, he is at his best again
in this one. This govt. has been fixing numbers for some time now.
Even the 2G was done almost according to procedure but in a different
domain. This the difference when one only sees the numbers and not
the units associated with it. 2 centimeters and different from 2
meters, although 2 is the same.
This article is pure rant. Let Sainath come up with an index of his own. I will call it SPL. Or let him write a public petition to abolish all PLs including IPL. Political parties know, by going to town with Lines demarcating Poverty is not going to buy votes. These are academic exercises to keep London educated economists and avowedly pro poor journalists busy both of whom are deluding themselves they are doing something useful in the cause of alleviating poverty. A real poor man does not care where the line is drawn. While the OP-EDs will carry bleeding hearts articles for poor, in the same paper, ironically in the Business Pages one will read how the GAAR regime (which puts the onus of proving that the transaction is not designed to avoid tax on the company) is draconian.
@Seeta, you have it all mixed up. Sainath is not asking for extortion of corporates. He is just asking that the sops be done away with.
I think there is a significant demographic shift already underway in India wherein states that have jumped on to the growth bandwagon have shown significant ability to make a dent on poverty, hunger, and other HDI indicators while ushering in growth in manufacturing, IT & services. An objective look at the data will tell you that these states include AP, Karnataka, Kerala, TN, Gujarat, Punjab, Haryana, HP & Uttaranchal. While there are pockets of stagnation (northern karnataka, portions of Telengana, both rural and urban segments have shown overall levels of improvement. Maharashtra, a high growth state presents a problem of rural distress especially in Vidharbha.
When a state like TN has over 50% of the households owning a scooter, motorbike or a car (with similar figures from Kerala and Karnataka),and >80% having a TV one sees a remarkable shift in living standards.
So the question is can this growth model be replicated.
I found the article both entertaining and a bit frustrating. The satire is indeed funny and Mr.Sainath portrays the activities of our government as similar to "Big Brother" in Orwell's great novel Nineteen Eighty Four, a government more more interested in creating the perception and illusion of progress than in actually affecting the reality of its citizens. That said, the article disappointed because I would like to further know whether, in actual terms, after adjusting for inflation and the creative accounting of our government, whether poverty has actually gone down and by how much. Also, I agree with other commenters that pitting poverty against capitalism is unnecessary and sends the wrong signals to society, further polarizing the already poor(and often unjustified) image of business that the common man holds. From what I've read, poverty isn't about lack of money but lack of the proper delivery systems which can use that money effectively to alleviate poverty.
The planning commision has time and again made a mockery of itself by quoting ridiculous numbers and estimates on BPL in the recent times.I wonder who are the think tanks behind such compilations of data.And our own Mr ahluwalia comes out strongly in defense of these pathetic estimates citing totally absurd and incoherent factors.The planning commision it seems is on a mission to paint the UPA in good light ahead of national elections by projecting figures to falsely pacify the electorals.It really is imponderable- how do these institutions claim that poverty level has come down when we regularly fare poorly in surveys and rankings related to malnutrition, poverty and widespread deprivation.
Interesting term coined by Sainath. CPL. What exactly is the corporate
plunder line? Is it some thing that really exists or is it just an
imagination? What exactly is revenue foregone? Is it a write off of
taxes which companies and/or individuals were supposed to pay but did
not (i.e. evaded tax)? or is it the waiver given by the government on
various activities of an organisation (remember all the deductions
like 80 C, 80 D, 80 DD, etc are part of revenue foregone) and
individuals?
It will be interesting to dig deeper and see what is the net benefit
of such foregone revenue? Do business expand as a result and hence
create more jobs? Do individuals save more and hence reduce the burden
of external borrowings for the government?
Is this really a plunder or just imagination?
The earnest efforts and heartwarming gestures of Indian state seems to have gone in vain.Forget about smiling,the OCD inflicted eccentricities of the State in hiking the happiness index has failed to even poke its citizens! Perhaps the very arithmetic gymnastics to ensure the rectitude and exactitude of the "line" might have tripped the feel good Mission .So,why not get away with the over used and abused joke of "line" and its trappings? The true magic lies in annihilating the very blasphemous term "poverty" from the State registers.Citizens may not only laugh in hysteria but might break their heads too(out of despair)! Thanks to Sainath for enriching the baffling PL lexicon (christening the sole object of state's paternal tenderness-CPL)and putting on the table the host and parasite of a
zero-sum game! sarcasm par excellence.Is the state listening??
We don't need many Chaman lal's in this country. The commentor talks about extorting 25L crores from Corporates. I've seen Marxists talking like this. Its a shame to talk about pulling down a corporation that is employing so many people and giving it away; do you think corporations will exist afterwards? Are they making money and running business to give to you? Why don't you genuinely talk about SCAMs that politicians exploit through? Why don't you talk about genuine small to medium scale businesses that need strength? Why don't you talk about better services which will provide better facilities and also employ more people? Why are there so many poor people? Ask that first than talking about robbing corporates. Will you give your family weath away that you created for generations, just like that?
Looking at present situation and scenario, I think that the real reason behind the reduction in percentage of BPL population is to commit suicide, self destruction... etc... Because present Indian politics do not provide but snatch the basic and fundamental things like " Roti, Kapda Makaan" from poors, so it can only increase the BPL population. As P. Sainath mentions in one the documentary... the only thing which grows rapidly in India after 1991 is IT or telecom but INEQUALITY.....
Terrific article! I liked your newly coined term "Corporate Plunder Line" (CPL). Truly, the figures do reflect the "Plunder" by the corporates hand in hand with the polity over a sustained period of time during which the CPL has trumped the BPL hands down. Thanks to you for highlighting this. But what can we do? How can we stop the rut? The democratic process (read elections) evidently has not been successful. Whoever comes to power exploits it to further create the divide between the CPL and the BPL. Apart from our voting rights, do we poor concerned citizens have any other thing more powerful to deal with this situation? Helplessness and despair are the only thing that we get. Alas! The citizens in this superpower called India, are actually Super-Powerless. That's why we elect representatives who in turn create the planning commission to project the true picture of the nation to its citizens. But they are coming up with ridiculous figures. Someone tell us the truth please!
Thank you Sainath Sir for making us understand the true colors of BPL and CPL. Our new rulers one hundred of them who has a share of 25% of the GDP of our country and construct Antilla with the blood and sweat of the poor and needy of our country. How do we reduce people under BPL?
Why are we making delight out of misery. Every country defines the poverty line including the US. I suppose the parameters used to measure is more or less similar globally. It is expected the receiptient to be erudite. The writer of this article has pillorised the BPL but comes forth with no solutions. By the way earning Rs22/day in rural india seems the correct BPL. The BPL only is an indicator for consuming calories. I am sure basic food can be purchased with rs600/month. I think what is required to supplement this data is the Gini coefficient. How far is our coefficient away from the lorenz curve. The further we are from the average the worse off it is. Statewise gini coefficient should be published for people at large to fathom
The 1800 calories per day criteria is totally unfair. What this category can signify is the number of people who are in dire need of food and other basic amenities, which is a slap on the our face since it seems only to grow by numbers. but we cannot ignore those who were below poverty line according to earlier set criterias. In addition, ensuring the proper consumption of calories is far from what is required for an individuals to be healthy.
This is P Sainath at his satirical best! Remember, ours is the land of P C Sorcar and his ilk who work in Fin Min as well. And so it's no surprise that millions have been dragged above the poverty line, without knowing it. Welcome to India, the superpower!
the single reason for the failure of our most of the policies - they are not formulated by the people who know the ground realities. they are developed by the the so called economists who have never experienced poverty/hunger in their life, never visited a remote village and seen the real plight of the people. Till then we will have only people-so called experts- who will say Rs 28/- and Rs.22/- are sufficient to live for a day, in Planning Commission. Just imagine - policies framed by these people-how can eliminate or eradicate poverty?
what is our government's prime consideration, to fulfill its people's basic needs or some magic numbers to show that we are also advancing.thanks Mr. Sainath for the true eyesight.
Fantastic term given by P Sainath-Corporate Plunder Line-CPL, to expose the fraud in the name of below poverty line-BPL-Let the Govt. recover 25 lakh crore plus plunder from Corporates and make education and health free at all levels.Take 5% honest 'corruption' out of it, if you wish for all the cronies involved in it!But you all might had share already from 'Corporates' to benefit them 25 lakh crore rupees!Tell truly was it more than 5%? Wish to add another term-Suicide Limit Line-SLL-Till now there are average 1000 thousand peasants suicide per one dear Billionaire of PM Manmohan Singh out of hundred as proudly proclaimed by dear PM.Would you limit it to 500 suicides per billionaire dear PM? Read Jonathan Swift's fantastic black irony of roasting children for the rich!
There are a lot of updates we are getting, about our country, day by day like GDP growth this year is 9.00%, 30% people are under BPL, Excise duty, Custom duty etc. Every time they show the figures of poverty line, BPL, etc. But, I have hardly seen any solid initiative taken by our government to reduce this poverty. Yes, I agree they are improving the schools, trying to improve the villages, but these steps are like happening very slow. Just as a formality, which need to be done to protect their governments or votes. My suggestion is, irrespective of providing data or figures every time, our government should really take some solid steps to remove the poverty.
Though I have always been impressed by Mr. Sainath's article and even more with his documentary Nero's Guest, I feel that last part of the article declaring rebate on Corporate taxes as scam was unnecessary. India doesn't want to be and is not like Nepal, where poverty and negative growth co-exist. To a certain extent, it is absolutely necessary to provide special consideration to economic development( both agro and non agro) in order to bring a holistic change in societal pattern at macro followed by micro level.
I got a new dimension in my understanding of poverty and inequalities after reading the book 'Everyone loves a bad drought'. I would request Mr.Sainath to please write a book as suggested by above reader. Also lot of thanks and congratulations for unveiling the truth which our highly qualified economists very cleverly hide behind the mathematical facts.
CPL! Good terminology! Hope media takes this up and ensures that it is given adequate attention, dialogue, and action it deserves.
Are you writing a book Mr. Sainath on Neo-liberalization? Please do.
Another masterpiece.Theres no gainsaying the fact that the corruption scenario in the country has aggravated the poverty index of India.
What a farce. We can see how the value of the life of a poor ordinary citizen in this country is coming down.. Only billionaires and people like Mallaya has value here. How these kind of people come to work in these kind of organizations?
Great revelations indeed ...
It is shocking to see the figures of the CPL. It is criminal to forgo such huge revenue (5 lakh crores). If A. Raja can be sent to jail for foregoing an expected revenue of Rs. 1.76 lakh crores from the sale of 2G spectrum then the finance minister (or perhaps the cabinet) should be held responsible for abetting the CPL. Since the opposition parties have no objection to such tax write-offs, it shows that all parliamentarians are not pro-poor. This money could have been used for health and food programs for the poor. The deaths due to hunger, poverty and unsafe working conditions in the unorganized sector (these figures will be greater than the farmer suicides) should be estimated to show the great depression our country is in. This number will be a national shame which we should accept and work to reduce it. Our government should spend more money for the poor than worry about GDP, record-low poverty estimate and record-high food grains production. A country's pride lies in low HDI.
As the saying goes - Always be aware of the nerd with a mathematical formula.
Sai: It would help, if we could have the breakup of the subsidies helpful to the larger population for ex..fuel vs subsidies that reach only to the upper section. I'm an India who thinks..everyone should have their basic necessities met..but that should not be at the cost slower economic growth that can be created by anti-corp measures. Corp's have to be helped at the same time be used to reduce poverty. Freebees aren't sustainable for the country and would only help people temporarily. Funds shld be spent in a way where we can provide tools to people for self enhancements.
Bullseye !!
This government is hopeless. As a citizen i feel nothing but frustration as I can't do anything. Thank you Mr. P. Sainath for apprising us with these details.
Irrespective of the measurement systems used to assess poverty, it is a shame that we have several hundred million people living in poverty in India. Now the question is in which direction did the country move over the last 10 years. We need erudite information on this subject without sarcasm and bias. Recent reports from the 2011 census pertaining to other indicators, such as percentage of households that own a motorized two wheeler or a car, such as percentage of households that live in homes with brick walls / solid roofs, have indicated significant changes for the better. Tamil Nadu has 39.4% of households that own a scooter or motorcycles, reporting a swing of +17% in a decade (urban and rural combined), a Karnataka comes in with 11% of homes owning a car (urban and rural combined). And much more. But that still leaves more several hundred million in India, poor and hungry. But are we moving in the right direction?. Need an honest unbiased answer Mr. Sainath.
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