The last National Sample Survey, which was the basis for Above Poverty Level and Below Poverty Level beneficiaries, was conducted in 2004. Further, in the fear of including excluded part of the population, the system has been so devised that it threatens to exclude the deserved ones. For example, say Rs.2000/- is the line. Is Rs.2001/- above poverty? (This is a simplistic view by way of example). I tried to help a very poor family with a child with multiple congenital disorder like a bent vertebral column, cleft lip and palate, absence of outer ear, facial paralysis etc. She writhes in pain at night. The father is a drunk; mother the sole earner, a day labor. The cleft lip could be addressed to because of a program called SMILE that did not require BPL card. I had got the child examined by doctors both at private facilities as well as GMC. The cost of examination and treatment seemed prohibitive even for a middle class family, let alone a lady at BPL existence. The Hospital required BPL certificate to try to give free treatment. But she has told me that their names have not been included in the BPL list in the village/ block of Nalbari district from which they come and that only the relatives of political bigwigs or those who pay get such cards! I contacted someone in the Chief Minister's office whether anything can be done; I was told that nothing could be done if done the proper way.
And whereas the corporates have been given relief in tax rates that constitute a double digit percentage of the GDP, the cost of bring the entire country under the PDS system would be barely an increase in single digit term or so, if the research conducted by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences,as published by the Front line of The Hindu group, in the last issue, has to be believed. kamal deka kjit.deka at gmail.com Sun Aug 15 07:05:54 IST 2010Previous message: [Assam] I Loved This One---from ToINext message: [Assam] I Loved This One---from ToIMessages sorted by: [ date ] [ thread ] [ subject ] [ author ]RS Just one single fact provided by the attorney general of India enraged the Supreme Court last IN 2002 : the utter indifference of our states to good grass-root governance. Reacting to a public interest litigation(PIL) on the reported starvation deaths despite overfull stocks of rice and wheat in the godowns of the Food Corporation of India, the apex court issued a notice to the Union government, probably hoping to rap its knuckles. However, the reply to the notice compelled the judicial bench to divert its anguish and anger. It expressed shock when told by the attorney general that 15 states and Union territories had not prepared a list of families which fall below the poverty line; the court thereupon issued them notices telling them to prepare that list within two weeks so as to ensure that those families could be quickly distributed food from the public distribution system under a highly subsidised scheme initiated by the government in New Delhi. Take a close look at the callous 15: Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, ASSAM, Bihar, Goa, MANIPUR, NAGALAND, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, TRIPURA, Uttaranchal, ARUNACHAL PRADESH, Pondicherry, Chandigarh, and Lakshadweep. This is the anatomy of state's autonomy. KJD Uttam Kumar Borthakur _______________________________________________ assam mailing list [email protected] http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org
