Measure poverty by income,not calories: Sen

The government may be keen to ensure food security for the poorer sections of the society,but the below-poverty...

The government may be keen to ensure food security for the poorer sections of the society,but the below-poverty-line debate continues unabated with consensus on the issue among the policy planners remaining elusive. Adding a new dimension to the issue,Planning Commission member Abhjit Sen has argued that evaluation of poverty should be done on the basis of income rather than calorie intake.

Sen reasoned that if one factored in calorie intake of 2,400 for rural areas and 2,100 for urban areas,then 64 per cent of urban India and 80 per cent of rural India would be below the poverty line. A rural development ministry panel had said that 50 per cent of Indians are below the poverty line considering the criterion of calorie intake and suggested that they be covered under BPL schemes.

As per the plan panels estimation in 2004-05,India has 30 crore people living below the poverty line. But according to the rural development ministrys 2002 poverty census,India had over 40 crore poor people. Again the World Bank on basis of 1.25 dollars per day believes that India has 45 crore poor people. So clearly there is no consensus on the quantum of populace living below the poverty line.

Story continues below this ad

The commission member pointed out that the rural development ministry committees recommendation this year on he estimation of BPL families was not binding on the government,as it was not a term of reference for the committee. The committee was asked to define the criteria for identifying families below the poverty line, he said. The government had entrusted the job of estimation of poverty to a committee headed by S D Tendulkar,chairman of the Prime Ministers Economic Advisory Council. It is yet to submit its report.

With the committee igniting a debate on Indias poverty figures,Sen said a mix of food and monthly expenditure based criteria would be a good idea for poverty estimation. But he refused to comment further,stating that one would have to wait for the recommendations of the Tendulkar Committee.

How Bihar is using night-time light to gauge its economic growth

India9 min ago

A study by the Bihar government and ADRI reveals that Arwal, a district previously impacted by Maoist violence, is now one of the top five emerging districts in terms of economic growth. This is evident in the rise of night-time light, a crucial measure of development.

View all shorts

Live Blog