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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Under attack, Congress says poverty line 'unrealistic'

Under attack, Congress says poverty line 'unrealistic'

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published Published on Jul 28, 2013   modified Modified on Jul 28, 2013
-The Times of India


NEW DELHI: Facing allegations of trivializing poverty for tom-tomming Planning Commission figures that show a decline in the number of poor, the Congress changed its tune on Saturday to dub the poverty line as "unrealistic".

The all-round assault on Congress seems to have resulted in the course correction that reflected in the disapprovals issued by Digvijaya Singh, Kapil Sibal and Rajiv Shukla.

Union minister Kapil Sibal and AICC general secretary Digvijaya Singh questioned the poverty line defined in the recent Planning Commission report that has pegged the number of poor to 21.9% of the population - down from 37.2% over seven years.

Minister of state for planning Rajiv Shukla said the Plan panel report has not been accepted by the government and a new committee was examining the issue. He slammed the BJP-led NDA regime for having fixed poverty at a daily earning of Rs 16.

Singh tweeted that the criteria for fixing poverty line was too abstract and demanded it be linked to malnourishment and anaemia.

Sibal challenged the method of calculating poverty, fixed at monthly salary of Rs 4,080 and Rs 5,000 in rural and urban areas, respectively. "If the Plan panel said those who live above Rs 5,000 a month are not at poverty line, obviously there is something wrong with the definition of poverty in this country. How can anybody live at Rs 5,000?" he asked in a public function.

The open questioning of Plan panel figures coincides with a vigorous debate in public domain in which political parties and activists have joined hands to slam the government for mocking the poor.

Congress's zealous spokespersons had rushed out to tom tom the figures showing a dip in poverty. The estimate is based on poverty line set at Rs 27 a day per person for rural areas, and Rs 33 a day in urban areas.

The spokespersons compounded matters when - responding to attack that the Congress had endorsed an unrealistic definition of poverty for political reasons - they claimed that `hearty meals' could be had for Rs 12 even Rs 5.

With election mood warming up, the party seems to lack the stomach for polemics on the politically sensitive issue. On Thursday, AICC spokespersons regretted their statements on cheap meals in a belated damage control exercise.

The defensive posture marks a volte-face given that the Congress waved the Plan panel report from party podium to claim credit for bringing down poverty, calling it a result of its inclusive growth policies.

Congress thinks the debate on poverty line is misplaced since the government has already divorced the poverty line from entitlements, like the food security law which would cater to 67% of the population.

However, there is a realization that debating poverty can be tricky in the prevailing pessimism over economic downturn.


The Times of India, 28 July, 2013, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Under-attack-Congress-says-poverty-line-unrealistic/articleshow/21413377.cms


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