The Hindu
March 22, 2006

NEW DELHI: The Centre has notified 13 new parameters for defining Below Poverty Line (BPL) category of people in the country. It has done away with the earlier definition based on food calories or annual earnings.

The revised definition is based on landholding, type of dwelling, clothing, food security, hygiene, capacity for buying commodities, literacy, minimum wages earned by the household, means of livelihood, education of children, debt, migration and priority for assistance. The matter had been stayed by the Supreme Court and has only now been vacated, Union Minister for Rural Development Raghuvansh Prasad Singh told the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.

Replying to a discussion on the functioning of his Ministry, Mr. Singh said the earliest definition of BPL in 1979 was based on consumption of 2,100 calories in urban areas and 2,400 calories for rural areas. In 1991-92, a household with an annual income of Rs. 11,000 was placed under the BPL category. In 1997, this criterion was raised to Rs. 20,000 per annum.

In 2002 it was based on the 13 parameters. All village panchayats would have to display the number of BPL at the panchayat-ghars or schools for "transparency".

Although the rural development allocation had been raised from Rs. 24,000 crores to 31,000 crore, he agreed with members that he was not happy with the allocation made to the Rural Development Ministry.

Saying that the two major problems facing the country were poverty and unemployment, he said if the country could address the problem of unemployment then poverty would get solved.

The commitment of the Ministry was to eradicate poverty by the end of the 11th Five Year Plan in 2012.

He said the National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme "guarantees" 100 days of employment during the lean season. So far in 181 districts in 17 States 2.23 crore people had registered. The scheme was not envisaged for the entire year "because we do not want agricultural activity to suffer."

Referring to the jump in the Sensex on Tuesday, he said for poor people the real sensex would be when villages became prosperous.

"The real India is rural India," he said at the end of his 90-minute address.