New Delhi: A pilot survey finding that 25-30% of the rural population can be automatically excluded from food security entitlements for below poverty line population might help forge a consensus between the government and the Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council.
The “automatic exclusion” criteria, devised on the basis of the N C Saxena report on methodology for a BPL census, is more liberal than the “bare bones” approach adopted by the government in the past. It does not rely merely on calorific intake but adds social indicators to judge poverty.
A pilot project for the upcoming BPL survey shows that even after some correction, based on given parameters, the exclusion would be around 20-25% — the percentage of population that is doing well enough not to require targeted assistance envisaged under the National Food Security Act. This might rule out universalisation of the food security law.
Official sources said the finding will help streamline diverging approaches but the government will still strive for as large a coverage as possible. There is an acknowledgement among government planners that BPL enumeration has been restrictive and even though percentages are contested, the absolute number of poor would grow in terms of India’s population.
The NAC, however, is at odds with the rural development ministry for turning down some criteria for automatic inclusions in the BPL category. The Tendulkar panel estimates are being taken as a point of reference for the coverage area of the food law and a formula is being worked on to reconcile poverty cut-offs as given by him. The two options for food law are —Tendulkar or Tendulkar-plus with differentiated entitlements.
While the Saxena committee was to comment on census methodology, it also offered the view that 50% of India’s population was below poverty line. The government’s statistics (2004) peg this 27% and the Suresh Tendulkar committee puts it at 37%. The NAC favours a 90% rural coverage and a 50% urban coverage but the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council proposes 46% rural and 28% urban beneficiaries.
The seeming deadlock could be eased by the pilot BPL survey and nudge NAC and the government towards a percentage of coverage that is acceptable to both. The government’s concern has been that its procurement, storing and payout commitments should not be strained by the legal entitlements under the food security law. The NAC, on its part, does not want the poor to be disadvantaged in any manner and seeks automatic cover for certain categories like single woman-headed families in rural areas.
Survey shows 25-30% of rural population could be excluded
http://cdrn.org.in/show.detail.asp?id=21618
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