In planning, pursuit of profit was not seen as being in the social interest in the post-Independence years, but now profit is the sole motive. FOR two decades now the Government of India has pursued a policy of accelerated liberalisation, dismantling controls, diluting regulations and making the state a facilitator of private investment. It is not that the presence of the state has diminished during this period, but that its role...
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The poverty line debate by Kirit Parikh
Planning Commission’s affidavit to the Supreme Court states that adjusting for inflation, the poverty line for an urban person is Rs 32.5 per day per person and for a rural person it is Rs 29.3 per day per person. This has raised an outcry in media and the urban middle class, who consider them outrageously low. Based on these poverty lines, Planning Commission estimates that there are 40.74 crore persons...
More »Poverty: Where do you draw the line? by Sudhanshu Ranade
There are two ways to identify the poor: in terms of how much they lack, and in terms of what you can do for them. To begin with, India's poverty line was set at the total (food and non-food) expenditure observed for the person who was just about consuming a nutritionally adequate number of calories. In subsequent years, rural and urban poverty lines were adjusted to take inflation on board, without adjusting...
More »Montek meets Manmohan over poverty line controversy by P Sunderarajan
Expected to clarify Planning Commission's stand on the issue today Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia on Sunday called on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the wake of the controversy over the Commission's Rs. 32 per capita per day definition of poverty line. He is expected to clarify the Commission's stand on the issue on Monday. The controversy broke out after an affidavit was filed by the Commission in the Supreme...
More »Planning Commission may finally have some idea about poor
-The Economic Times The Planning Commission, under a sustained attack from the Union Cabinet and the National Advisory Council over its affidavit to the Supreme Courtthat claimed that the rural poor can take care of his food, educational and health requirements with 25 a day, is expected to revise its stand on Monday. This follows a meeting between Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh here...
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