| 
Write an essay on ‘Below Poverty Line in India’?
The Planning
Commission of India recently adopted the Tendulkar Committee's methodology for
poverty estimate that includes spends on education and health besides food,
taking the number of the poor to a whopping 37.2 per cent from 27.5 per cent
estimated earlier in 2004. This means that India now has 100 million more
people living below the poverty line than in 2004.
National estimates of
the percentage of the population falling below the poverty line are based on
surveys of sub-groups, with the results weighted by the number of people in
each group.
Definitions of poverty
vary considerably among nations. For example, rich nations generally employ
more generous standards of poverty than poor nations. What does poverty in
India actually mean? It is difficult for those living in an industrialised
country to truly appreciate the level of poverty in our country. In the West, even
those living in poverty can live in well-constructed dwellings, with heating,
clean running water, indoor toilet facilities, access to health care, and even
a vehicle. But such luxuries are a distant dream for India's poor.
The earlier definition
of India's poverty was based on calorie intake, according to which only 27.5
per cent of people were living below the poverty line as on March 1, 2004 and the
number of BPL families were about 6.5 crore (65 million). As per the methodology
suggested by the Tendulkar report, the number would swell to 37.2 per cent of
the total population and the number of BPL families to about 8.1 crore (81
million). The computation
of the number of BPL families at the this stage assumes significance in view of
the government's decision to enact the food security law. Currently, a ration card holder is
entitled to 35 kg of food grain every month. The Indian government spends only
1 per cent of its gross domestic product on healthcare facilities.
The government has
found that 100 million more Indians are actually living below the poverty line
than previously thought. Over 370 million Indians -- 40 per cent of the
population -- are now eligible for subsidised food supplies.
According to the World
Bank, more people are living in extreme poverty in developing countries than
previously thought as it adjusted the recognised yardstick for measuring global
poverty to $1.25 a day from $1.The poverty-fighting institution said there were
1.4 billion people -- a quarter of the developing world -- living in extreme
poverty on less than $1.25 a day in 2005.
India's official
poverty measure has long been based solely upon the ability to purchase a
minimum recommended daily diet of 2,400 kilocalories (kcal) in rural areas
where about 70 percent of people live, and 2,100 kcal in urban areas. Rural
areas usually have higher kcal requirements because of greater physical
activity among rural residents.
The National Planning
Commission, which is responsible for the estimate, currently estimates that a
monthly income of about Rs 356 (about $7.74) per person is needed to provide
the required diet in rural areas and Rs 539 in urban areas. Factors such as
housing, healthcare and transportation are not taken into account in the
poverty estimates. The estimate is derived from the National Sample Survey,
which measures monthly per capita consumer expense every five years.
According to
oneworld.net, despite sustained high gross domestic product growth in
India, latest estimates of global poverty by World Bank suggest that India has
more people living below $2 than even sub-Saharan Africa.
According to the
Bank's new estimates, India is home to roughly one-third of all the poor
in the world.
Source: Rediff
