|
How
much poor is poor enough? If you ask this question to the Planning
Commission of India, you might be highly disappointed at the
response. Many of India’s poor die out of hunger and because they
don’t have acceptable housing. Some of India’s poor even live in
makeshift homes on train station platforms, an example of
the 78 million
Indians who lack proper housing facilities. Still, according to
the Indian Planning Commission’s criteria on what classifies as a
poor person, many of these individuals may not be considered poor
enough to be considered as living below poverty line (BPL).
Poverty is a widespread and well-acknowledged problem in India. To
know how poor India is you need simply to look at the people and
the places around and you will have good grasp of the situation.
However, when it comes to the government accounts, the abjectness
of the poverty situation seems to be grossly underestimated and
even ignored in many circumstances.
Reacting to a petition by
Peoples’ Union of Civil
Liberties,
the Supreme Court of India recently asked the Planning Commission
to fix the problem. "You (India) are a powerful economy” the court
said. “Yet, starvation deaths are taking place in many parts of
the country. What a stark contradiction in our approach. How can
there be two Indias?" The court also challenged the Commissions
approach to estimating poverty level among the masses. As the
Economic Times reported,
“The Supreme Court slammed the Planning Commission, asking its
Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia to explain how the
percentage of people living below poverty line (BPL) fixed at 36
percent and how has their purchasing power remained unchanged
since 1991.”
Responding to the apex court’s queries, the Planning Commission
disclosed its
criteria for determining a poor.
According to the Commission, an urban Indian spending more than Rs
578 a month ($13) – roughly Rs 20 (less than 50 cents) a day would
exceed its limit for the poverty line. The figures are even lower
for rural India. If a villager spends more than 15 rupees a day on
the entire gamut of basic needs including food, clothing, and
shelter - the villager cannot be termed as poor enough and will
not be entitled to receive benefits meant for poor.
Based on these consumption levels, the commission has declared
that
only 41.8 percent
of the rural population is poor and a mere
25.7 percent
of the urban Indians need food, shelter and social benefits from
the government. These criteria for persons living below poverty
line (BPL) explain very well how half of India may starve to death
but the Government may say India is not poor. By these measures,
most beggars will find it difficult to make it to the list of poor
people.
The
Planning Commission's criteria of daily spending of less than 50
cents as an indicator for poverty not only shows their lack of
concern for people but also shows their unawareness about the cost
of living in the country. How can a person afford a nutrition
content of
2400 calories,
a minimum requirement for the rural India, from a meager 15 rupees
(about 35 cents)?
This criterion grossly underestimates or rather ignores other
expenses like housing, clothing, and medication. Where in Urban
India one can find housing for less than Rs 600 ($ 14) given the
rent of an average house is no less than Rs 3000 ($ 65) a month?
The Planning Commission fails to account for the very basic
amenities of life for the poor. This is highly disappointing, as
the criteria for deciding BPL fail to capture the cost of bare
minimum amenities for survival.
If
we push the criterion up to the international standard spending of
$ 1.25 (PPP adjusted) a day, the
Planning
Commission estimates
about 45% of the Indian population is extremely poor. If the
daily income per head is $ 2 then the family is described as poor
and about 80 percent of Indian Population is poor by this
criterion.
Comparing these figures with the developed nations, we can
understand the relevance of the BPL criteria. United States, for
instance, has hardly anyone living below this spending level of a
dollar or two per day. The USA follows its own national poverty
line, an income over
$26000 a year
for a family of 5, which is well above the international line of $
1.25 a day.
So
what can one think of the Planning Commission’s stand: Is it sheer
ignorance of the reality or a calculated strategic measure? If the
level of poverty can’t be reduced, lower the criteria to such an
extent that most of the poverty will remain underestimated and
hence unreported and ultimately, the problem will be ignored or at
least it will not draw as much attention as it otherwise would.
But
not everyone is as ignorant as the planning Commission’s
statisticians. The Supreme Court once again has noticed the
inadequacy of the criteria for measuring the BPL level. The Court
has
directed the
commission to re-evaluate
its criteria for measuring poverty across the nation.
Thanks to the Supreme Court for intervening in this case.
Otherwise, poor people would be dying hungry and shelter-less,
while the Planning Commission would say they are not poor enough!
The writer is a PhD
student in Economics at
Texas Tech University,
Lubbock, TX.
|
Comments
|
Quick links