-Down to Earth Government claims a huge drop in poverty numbers but critical indicators-health, malnutrition and wages-continue to be grim. So how did the poor fare better? After a long, long time there was good news to splash as media led with the report of a record 21.9 per cent drop in poverty levels. The July 24 newspaper headlines were celebratory as they reported the Planning Commission's findings that poverty rates...
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Poor implementation of MGNREGA in Bihar: CAG
-PTI PATNA: MGNREGA has not gained momentum in Bihar as the percentage of household provided 100 days employment ranged from one to seven per cent during 2007-12, according to a CAG report submitted to the state assembly today. A performance audit on MGNREGA found that Bihar was deprived of grant of Rs 9684.24 crore during 2007-12 in the shape of central share due to less creation of mandays, sharp increase in demand...
More »Cut Off At The Bottom -Raghav Gaiha
-Outlook The anti-poverty programme politics dictate that the number of poor are kept low. I don't think the Planning Commission's poverty numbers are credible for several reasons: growth has decelerated; NREGA hasn't been as successful in targeting the poor as generally asserted; nor has the PDS benefited the poor significantly. The first phase of the UPA saw some macroeconomic reforms but not the second phase. Also, the poverty lines worked out...
More »Poverty line low, need to revisit methodology, says Montek Singh Ahluwalia
-The Economic Times NEW DELHI: Planning commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia on Monday admitted that the latest poverty estimates released last week is indeed low and needs to be revised upward. The commission said last week that only 21.9% of the population was poor, based on a per capita spending of 33.33 day in cities and 27.20 rural India, causing widespread outrage for being too low. "As the country becomes richer and...
More »Ashish Bose, noted demographer interviewed by Somesh Jha
Ashish Bose coined the term BIMARU in a paper to then prime minister Rajiv Gandhi in the 1980s to highlight the economic backwardness of Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. He tells Somesh Jha he is not inspired by the Planning Commission’s bogus poverty figures. He says it is time the commission wound up. Excerpts: * You coined the term 'BIMARU', but these states performed well in alleviating poverty in...
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