Posted by Dr. Gopal Unnikrishna Kurup
Scaling Poverty
According to the press statement released by Planning Commission of India yesterday on 23,July 2013, poverty ratio in the country has declined to 21.9 per cent in 2011-12 from 37.2 per cent in 2004-05 on account of increase in per capita consumption..
It says, based on the Tendulkar methodology, in 2011-12, the national poverty line is estimated at Rs 816 per capita per month in villages and Rs 1,000 per capita per month in cities The percentage of persons below poverty line in 2011-12 has been estimated at 25.7 per cent in rural areas, 13.7 per cent in urban areas and 21.9 per cent for the country as a whole. The Commission said that for a family of five, the all-India poverty line in terms of consumption expenditure would amount to Rs 4,080 per month in rural areas and Rs 5,000 per month in urban areas. (The poverty line, however, will vary from state to state). This would naturally mean that the persons whose consumption of goods and services exceed Rs 33.33 in cities and Rs 27.20 per capita per day in villages are not poor.
The percentage of persons below poverty line in 2004-05 was 41.8 per cent in rural areas, 25.7 per cent in cities and 37.2 per cent in the country as a whole.In actual terms, there were 26.93 crore people below poverty line in 2011-12 as compared to 40.71 crore in 2004-05.
State-wise, the Commission said the poverty ratio was highest in Chhattisgarh at 39.93 per cent followed by Jharkhand (36.96%), Manipur (36.89%), Arunachal Pradesh (34.67%) and Bihar (33.47%). Among the union territories, the Dadra and Nagar Haveli was the highest, with 39.31 per cent people living below poverty line followed by Chandigarh at 21.81 per cent. Goa has the least percentage of people living below poverty line at 5.09 per cent followed by Kerala (7.05%), Himachal Pradesh (8.06%), Sikkim (8.19%), Punjab (8.26%) and Andhra Pradesh (9.20%).
The Commission holds that this decline in poverty is mainly on account of rising real per capita consumption figures which are based on 68th round of National Sample Survey on Household Consumer Expenditure in India in 2011-12, and that this ratio for 2011-12 is based on the methodology suggested by Suresh Tendulkar Committee which factors in money spent on health and education besides calorie intake to fix a poverty line.
Now, there has been widespread criticism of Tendulkar methodology as outdated and no more reflecting current situation. It was accepting this view as valid that a committee was appointed under Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council Chairman C Rangarajan to revisit the Tendulkar Committee methodology for tabulating poverty.The Committee is expected to submit its report by mid 2014. Then what was the hurry in putting up a survey-finding based on inappropriate methodology? The only explanation is the bogey of ensuing General elections.
The currently put out ratio becomes not only confounded but grotesque when you consider the Below Poverty Line( BPL) census of the population meant to determine the number of the poor, that found close to half the rural population to so qualify, as against a 25.7 per cent ratio estimated by the Planning Commission, say sources in the rural development ministry. The BPL census found only 48 per cent of the population eligible for automatic exclusion from the category of the poor - they either had motorised vehicles, pucca houses, government jobs, landed wealth or members earning at least Rs 10,000 a month. The BPL census is scheduled to be completed in the next three to four month
The Rural Development ministry had commissioned the census in July 2011, after an experts' committee set up by it gave a list of recommendations on the criteria for identifying the poor. The census guidelines were later finalized on the basis of a separate project. The new guidelines listed a set of deprivations on the basis of which households were to be identified as poor, and certain other factors on the basis of which were to be identified as being not poor.
The BPL census of 1992 had identified 52 per cent of rural families as poor. The one in 1997 identified about 42 per cent as poor. The third census was done in 2002 but its results did not replace the earlier findings. And if BPL census is to be reckoned, it seems we are where we were in 1992!
Scaling Poverty
According to the press statement released by Planning Commission of India yesterday on 23,July 2013, poverty ratio in the country has declined to 21.9 per cent in 2011-12 from 37.2 per cent in 2004-05 on account of increase in per capita consumption..
It says, based on the Tendulkar methodology, in 2011-12, the national poverty line is estimated at Rs 816 per capita per month in villages and Rs 1,000 per capita per month in cities The percentage of persons below poverty line in 2011-12 has been estimated at 25.7 per cent in rural areas, 13.7 per cent in urban areas and 21.9 per cent for the country as a whole. The Commission said that for a family of five, the all-India poverty line in terms of consumption expenditure would amount to Rs 4,080 per month in rural areas and Rs 5,000 per month in urban areas. (The poverty line, however, will vary from state to state). This would naturally mean that the persons whose consumption of goods and services exceed Rs 33.33 in cities and Rs 27.20 per capita per day in villages are not poor.
The percentage of persons below poverty line in 2004-05 was 41.8 per cent in rural areas, 25.7 per cent in cities and 37.2 per cent in the country as a whole.In actual terms, there were 26.93 crore people below poverty line in 2011-12 as compared to 40.71 crore in 2004-05.
State-wise, the Commission said the poverty ratio was highest in Chhattisgarh at 39.93 per cent followed by Jharkhand (36.96%), Manipur (36.89%), Arunachal Pradesh (34.67%) and Bihar (33.47%). Among the union territories, the Dadra and Nagar Haveli was the highest, with 39.31 per cent people living below poverty line followed by Chandigarh at 21.81 per cent. Goa has the least percentage of people living below poverty line at 5.09 per cent followed by Kerala (7.05%), Himachal Pradesh (8.06%), Sikkim (8.19%), Punjab (8.26%) and Andhra Pradesh (9.20%).
The Commission holds that this decline in poverty is mainly on account of rising real per capita consumption figures which are based on 68th round of National Sample Survey on Household Consumer Expenditure in India in 2011-12, and that this ratio for 2011-12 is based on the methodology suggested by Suresh Tendulkar Committee which factors in money spent on health and education besides calorie intake to fix a poverty line.
Now, there has been widespread criticism of Tendulkar methodology as outdated and no more reflecting current situation. It was accepting this view as valid that a committee was appointed under Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council Chairman C Rangarajan to revisit the Tendulkar Committee methodology for tabulating poverty.The Committee is expected to submit its report by mid 2014. Then what was the hurry in putting up a survey-finding based on inappropriate methodology? The only explanation is the bogey of ensuing General elections.
The currently put out ratio becomes not only confounded but grotesque when you consider the Below Poverty Line( BPL) census of the population meant to determine the number of the poor, that found close to half the rural population to so qualify, as against a 25.7 per cent ratio estimated by the Planning Commission, say sources in the rural development ministry. The BPL census found only 48 per cent of the population eligible for automatic exclusion from the category of the poor - they either had motorised vehicles, pucca houses, government jobs, landed wealth or members earning at least Rs 10,000 a month. The BPL census is scheduled to be completed in the next three to four month
The Rural Development ministry had commissioned the census in July 2011, after an experts' committee set up by it gave a list of recommendations on the criteria for identifying the poor. The census guidelines were later finalized on the basis of a separate project. The new guidelines listed a set of deprivations on the basis of which households were to be identified as poor, and certain other factors on the basis of which were to be identified as being not poor.
The BPL census of 1992 had identified 52 per cent of rural families as poor. The one in 1997 identified about 42 per cent as poor. The third census was done in 2002 but its results did not replace the earlier findings. And if BPL census is to be reckoned, it seems we are where we were in 1992!
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