Census to decide poverty benchmark behind schedule

Here too,though,the verification process,that is necessary to complete the census is not over.

Under fire over its poverty line markers,the government had said it would identify the poor eligible for government welfare provisions on the basis of an ongoing Socio Economic and Caste Census. However,the census that is being coordinated by the Rural Development Ministry has fallen way behind schedule and is likely to be delayed beyond the launch of the Twelfth Five Year Plan in April next year.

Of the eight states/Union territories where the ministry had planned to complete the survey exercise by September Chandigarh,Dadra and Nagar Haveli,Daman and Diu,Puducherry,Tripura,Chhattisgarh,Andhra Pradesh and Goa it is only Puducherry where the enumeration has been completed. Here too,though,the verification process,that is necessary to complete the census is not over.

If the data is not compiled before the launch of the next Plan,the administration of the governments schemes aimed at the poor would be hit. The Planning Commission has said it would supply subsidised foodgrains to the poor as identified in the socio-economic census,in the ratio specified under the proposed food security law.

Tripura,where the census was launched in June,has not completed even 60 per cent of enumeration. As per the original plan,this should have been over by July.

Chhattisgarh,which was to begin its census exercise in August,started enumeration only in the last week of September. Andhra Pradesh has not yet started taking down its numbers,neither have any of the major states with a substantive population of poor.

Uttar Pradesh has indicated its reluctance to even start census operations in the current calendar year. While the state government has indicated it could undertake the exercise in February 2012,this appears unlikely given that the state Assembly elections are scheduled then. The Rural Development Ministry,in fact,has not been able to get Uttar Pradesh to commit to a deadline of completing the enumeration.

While approving the methodology for the census in May,the Cabinet had set a time frame to complete the exercise by December end. This deadline was fixed in order to allow the government sufficient time to make the data public and invite objections at the local level,so that the necessary corrections could be made before the launch of the Twelfth Five Year Plan in April 2012.

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The first hint of the survey failing to meet the deadline was given by Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh last week when he said it was expected to be completed by January 2012.

While officials say even this deadline would be hard to meet,Ramesh told The Indian Express that they were confident of getting the census data before the launch of the next Plan.