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Delhi says poverty begins below 50 cents a day
Delhi says poverty begins below 50 cents a day | Business | DAWN.COM
AFP
September 22, 2011 (3 weeks ago)
A man sits outside his makeshift shelter at the side of a road in Mumbai, India, Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2011. - AP Photo
NEW DELHI: Indias economic planning body has said any villager earning 50 cents a day is not poor and should not qualify for a government ration card a figure condemned by experts on Wednesday.
Those with a daily income of 25 rupees (50 cents) in villages and 32 rupees (65 cents) in cities should be ineligible for subsidised food and other supplies, the Planning Commission told Indias Supreme Court.
Anyone earning above these levels would have enough funds for food, education and health, the commission said in a submission to the court lodged on Tuesday.
The proposed new benchmarks, which have already been approved by Prime Minister Manmohan Singhs office, were condemned by poverty experts as unrealistic especially with Indias soaring inflation.
There is no way one person can feed and house himself on 32 rupees in a city for a day. This figure has no meaning for the common man, Anupama Datta, deputy head of the National Slum Dwellers Federation, told AFP.
The Planning Commission, which says it has to set the poverty line to make optimal use of funds, filed the figures after the Supreme Court requested the updating of the cut-off point in the face of Indias near double-digit inflation.
While India boasts a burgeoning class of urban rich thanks to a fast-growing economy, hundreds of millions of people still face a lack of food, clean water and proper housing.
A kilogramme of rice costs 40 rupees which would last a family just one day, said New Delhi housemaid Ambeka Muthuswami, adding that three bananas cost about 10 rupees.
Indias proposed poverty line cut-off is far below the World Banks figure of $1.25 a day.
Prominent Indian social activist Aruna Roy told the DNA newspaper that the level reflected the governments lack of empathy for the poor and a perspective completely divorced from reality. The Congress-led government has been under huge pressure to reduce its massive subsidy bill for the poor in order to reduce a gaping fiscal deficit.
Around 37 per cent of Indias 1.2 billion population are currently deemed to live below the poverty line and are being given subsidised food and cooking fuel through state-owned stores.
Biraj Patnaik, adviser to an official commission on the right to food, said when it comes to helping the poor, the government wants as few people as possible to get even the minimum benefits to reduce its expenditure.
The final poverty line cut-off figures will be set after a national survey to be carried out in 2011-12, the commission said.
In May, the World Bank criticised Indias anti-poverty schemes, saying they were ineffective due to corruption and mismanagement.
Delhi says poverty begins below 50 cents a day | Business | DAWN.COM
AFP
September 22, 2011 (3 weeks ago)
A man sits outside his makeshift shelter at the side of a road in Mumbai, India, Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2011. - AP Photo
NEW DELHI: Indias economic planning body has said any villager earning 50 cents a day is not poor and should not qualify for a government ration card a figure condemned by experts on Wednesday.
Those with a daily income of 25 rupees (50 cents) in villages and 32 rupees (65 cents) in cities should be ineligible for subsidised food and other supplies, the Planning Commission told Indias Supreme Court.
Anyone earning above these levels would have enough funds for food, education and health, the commission said in a submission to the court lodged on Tuesday.
The proposed new benchmarks, which have already been approved by Prime Minister Manmohan Singhs office, were condemned by poverty experts as unrealistic especially with Indias soaring inflation.
There is no way one person can feed and house himself on 32 rupees in a city for a day. This figure has no meaning for the common man, Anupama Datta, deputy head of the National Slum Dwellers Federation, told AFP.
The Planning Commission, which says it has to set the poverty line to make optimal use of funds, filed the figures after the Supreme Court requested the updating of the cut-off point in the face of Indias near double-digit inflation.
While India boasts a burgeoning class of urban rich thanks to a fast-growing economy, hundreds of millions of people still face a lack of food, clean water and proper housing.
A kilogramme of rice costs 40 rupees which would last a family just one day, said New Delhi housemaid Ambeka Muthuswami, adding that three bananas cost about 10 rupees.
Indias proposed poverty line cut-off is far below the World Banks figure of $1.25 a day.
Prominent Indian social activist Aruna Roy told the DNA newspaper that the level reflected the governments lack of empathy for the poor and a perspective completely divorced from reality. The Congress-led government has been under huge pressure to reduce its massive subsidy bill for the poor in order to reduce a gaping fiscal deficit.
Around 37 per cent of Indias 1.2 billion population are currently deemed to live below the poverty line and are being given subsidised food and cooking fuel through state-owned stores.
Biraj Patnaik, adviser to an official commission on the right to food, said when it comes to helping the poor, the government wants as few people as possible to get even the minimum benefits to reduce its expenditure.
The final poverty line cut-off figures will be set after a national survey to be carried out in 2011-12, the commission said.
In May, the World Bank criticised Indias anti-poverty schemes, saying they were ineffective due to corruption and mismanagement.
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