IIs Rs. 25 all that you need for a day? http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article2471104.ece?homepage=true
n a startling affidavit before the Supreme Court, the Planning Commission has said an individual income of just Rs. 25 a day constitutes adequate “private expenditure on food, education and health.” The affidavit, submitted on Tuesday, bases its assertion on the findings of the Suresh Tendulkar Committee, which pegged the poverty line at Rs. 447 a month, or about Rs. 15 a day, at 2004-2005 prices. Experts reacted with dismay to the affidavit. National Advisory Council member Aruna Roy said it reflected the government's lack of empathy for the poor. “This extremely low estimated expenditure is aimed at artificially reducing the number of persons Below the Poverty Line and thus reduce government expenditure on the poor,” she alleged. Planning Commission Member Abhijit Sen admitted that the affidavit did not answer what the court had asked for — clear criteria on who would qualify for subsidised foodgrains from the government. “The poverty line figures in the affidavit are the ones arrived at by the Tendulkar Committee and the government has to accept those. But, I agree, this affidavit does not address the issue of who is entitled to a BPL card.” In its affidavit, the Commission says the total BPL population now being served by the Public Distribution System is 35.98 crore. The Tendulkar Committee had called for that number to be revised to 40.74 crore, on the basis of the projected population on March 1, 2005. However, the affidavit states the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) data and provisional estimates “suggest that the total BPL population may be lower than what would have emerged from [the] Tendulkar [report].” Commission sources said their affidavit relied on the NSSO and Tendulkar Committee findings, and did not make any independent claim. The Committee said its “proposed poverty lines have been validated by checking the adequacy of actual private expenditure per capita near the poverty lines on food, education and health by comparing them with normative expenditures consistent with nutritional, education and health outcomes.” N.C. Saxena, another NAC member, felt that “although the Planning Commission has only quoted NSSO's survey statistics, it could have been more sensitive.” The affidavit was filed in response to the May 14 court order advising the Commission to update its BPL norms to reflect prices as on May 2011. The court had observed that it was impossible for an individual in an urban area to consume 2,100 calories with Rs. 20 and 2,400 calories with Rs. 15 in rural area, the figures in the Tendulkar report. The Commission, however, said “final poverty lines following Tendulkar Committee [report] will be available only after completion of the 2011-12 NSS Survey and these will vary from State to State because of price differentials Spend Rs 32 a day? Govt says you can’t be poor<http://indialawyers.wordpress.com/2011/09/21/spend-rs-32-a-day-govt-says-you-cant-be-poor/> leave a comment »<http://indialawyers.wordpress.com/2011/09/21/spend-rs-32-a-day-govt-says-you-cant-be-poor/#comments> *DHANANJAY MAHAPATRA IN THE TIMES OF INDIA* NEW DELHI<http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=28.61,77.23&spn=0.1,0.1&q=28.61,77.23%20%28Delhi%29&t=h>: The Planning Commission <http://planningcommission.nic.in/> told the Supreme Court <http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/Supreme-Court> on Tuesday that anyone spending more than Rs 965 per month in urban India<http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=28.6133333333,77.2083333333&spn=10.0,10.0&q=28.6133333333,77.2083333333%20%28India%29&t=h>and Rs 781 in rural India will be deemed not to be poor. Updating the poverty line <http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/poverty-line> cut-off figures, the commission said those spending in excess of Rs 32 a day in urban areas <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_area> or Rs 26 a day in villages will no longer be eligible to draw benefits of central and state government welfare schemes meant for those living below the poverty line. According to the new criterion suggested by the planners, if a family of four in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore or Chennai is spending anything more than Rs 3,860 per month on its members, it would not be considered poor. It’s a definition that many would find ridiculously unrealistic. Not surprisingly, the new above the poverty line definition has already created outrage among activists, who feel it is just a ploy to artificially depress the number of poor in India. The plan panel said these were provisional figures based on the Tendulkar committee<http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/Tendulkar-committee>report updated for current prices by taking account of the Consumer Price Index <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consumer_price_index> for industrial and agricultural workers. TOI broke down the overall monthly figure for urban areas and used the CPI for industrial workers along with the Tendulkar report figures to see what these numbers translate into and how much the Planning Commission believes is enough to spend on essential items so as not to be deemed poor. The Planning Commission suggests that spending Rs 5.5 on cereals per day is good enough to keep people healthy. Similarly, a daily spend of Rs 1.02 on pulses, Rs 2.33 on milk and Rs 1.55 on edible oil should be enough to provide adequate nutrition and keep people above the poverty line without the need of subsidized rations from the government. It further suggests that just Rs 1.95 on vegetables a day would be adequate. A bit more, and one might end up outside the social security net. People should be spending less than 44 paise on fruits, 70 paise on sugar, 78 paise on salt and spices and another Rs 1.51 on other foods per day to qualify for the BPL<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Below_Poverty_Line_%28India%29>list and for subsidy under various government schemes. A person using more than Rs 3.75 per day on fuel to run the kitchen is doing well as per these figures. Forget about the fuel price hike and sky-rocketing rents, if anyone living in the city is spending over Rs 49.10 a month on rent and conveyance, he or she could miss out on the BPL tag. As for healthcare, according to the Planning Commission, Rs 39.70 per month is sufficient to stay healthy. On education, the plan panel feels those spending 99 paise a day or Rs 29.60 a month in cities are doing well enough not to need any help. Similarly, one could be considered not poor if he or she spends more than Rs 61.30 a month on clothing, Rs 9.6 on footwear and another Rs 28.80 on other personal items. The monthly cut-off given by the Planning Commission before the apex court was broken down using the Consumer Price Index of Industrial Workers for 2010-11 and the breakdown given in Annexure E of the Tendulkar report of expenditure calculated at 2004-05 prices. The new tentative BPL criteria was worked out by the Planning Commission and approved by the Prime Minister’s office before the government’s affidavit was submitted before the Supreme Court. The plan panel said the final poverty line criteria would be available after the completion of the NSSO<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Sample_Survey_Organisation>survey of 2011-12. The Montek Singh Ahluwalia<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montek_Singh_Ahluwalia>-headed Planning Commission had drawn flak from the apex court which, on May 14, took exception to the poverty line definition which initially said anyone spending more than Rs 20 in urban areas and Rs 15 in rural areas should not be considered poor. “The Planning Commission may revise the norms of per capita amount looking to the price index of May 2011 or any other subsequent dates,” the court had said. So, the planners have now given a revised figure of Rs 32 for urban areas and Rs 26 for poor areas. In their affidavit, the planners have defended their definition of the poverty line and not revised the norms, but merely updated them with the CPI for the current year. The affidavit says, “The recommended poverty lines ensure the adequacy of actual private expenditure per capita near the poverty lines on food, education and health and the actual calories consumed are close to the revised calorie intake norm for urban areas and higher than the norm in rural areas.” *~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Ours is a battle not for wealth or for power. It is a battle for freedom. It is a battle for the reclamation of human personality." - Dr BR Ambedkar ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~* -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "humanrights movement" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/humanrights-movement?hl=en.
