Under attack over the Rs 32 per capita per day (in urban India and Rs 26 per day per person in rural areas) cut off for poverty line, the Planning Commission on Monday distanced itself from the controversial definition presented to the Supreme Court saying it did not represent its views.
'Second-generation neoliberal policies, coupled with multiple failures on the food front, could do to the UPA what India Shining did to the NDA in 2004,' says Praful Bidwai.
They have warned against linking such demarcations on poverty with basic entitlements.
State links PDS to UID to plug leakages in food supplies but gaps remain.
'The COVID-19 pandemic is going to send an unprecedented number of low-income households deep into poverty,' says Geetanjali Krishna.
India should focus on how many are living below the poverty line, says Professor of Global Strategy Pankaj Ghemawat.
They want fare subsidies for only those below the poverty line, daily wage earners, senior citizens and students.
Officials said the Centre would have to bear an additional subsidy burden of Rs 4,161 crore this financial year, if this proposal was implemented.
A nationwide socio-economic and caste census to identify people living below poverty line (BPL) was on Wednesday flagged off from Shankhola, a remote tribal hamlet in Tripura West district.
Concerned over the misuse of subsidies provided under various schemes, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Monday said the government will provide a direct cash subsidy on kerosene and fertilisers to the poor from March next year.
Government's cheap food distribution covers 68 per cent of the population.
India's human development indicators show that deprivation extends well beyond the 22 per cent of population who live below the official poverty line.
The controversial Government affidavit on Below Poverty Line cap was condemned by Opposition today as an "insult and betrayal" of the poor and also slammed by a key United Progressive Alliance ally Nationalist Congress Party.
The caste and Below Poverty Line census has been suspended in the poll-bound Uttar Pradesh by Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh, though it goes on nonstop in Punjab, Goa, Uttarakhand and Manipur also have simultaneous elections.
Who is a poor Indian? One who earns below Rs 35 a day? Or one whose salary is in four figures? While the debate rages, the Bombay Parsi Punchayet, the organisation that governs the affairs of the Zoroastrian community in Bombay, has said that any Parsi who earns less than Rs 90,000 a month (or Rs 10.8 lakh a year) is poor and therefore eligible for its help in finding a house.
The government on Friday decided to allocate five million tonnes of additional wheat and rice for distribution through ration shops to BPL families, giving them some relief from high food inflation.
The issue was raised in during Zero hour and supported by several others.
Jammu and Kashmir has spent Rs 12 crore on the maintenance and operation of Omar Abdullah's aircraft since he became the chief minister in January 2009.
Continuing his tirade against the Congress leaders, he said that like others, he never compromises when it comes to patriotism and self-respect.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday pulled up the Centre for limiting the number of below poverty line (PDS) people in a state to 36 per cent of its population as per the Planning Commission's recommendations.
One of the major challenges before the government is that the annual average refill by a PMUY consumer is 3.28 cylinders compared to seven for others.
After giving a call to Maoists to lay down arms, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday turned her attention to the poorest of the poor in 'Junglemahal' by announcing that all tribals in the three districts would be included in the below poverty line (BPL) list.
In line with the industry expectations, the government has indicated that it is actively considering extension of the NBS regime to cover urea.
There is certainly something missing with the way poverty is measured in India.
Ramesh also assured that the Planning Commission methodology on BPL yardstick would not be implemented and its Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia had already clarified last week regarding the controversy generated from the Rs 32 (urban) and Rs 26 (rural areas) as the cut off mark for BPL families.
Embarrassed by the debate on whether its suggestion that a human being can live on Rs 32 a day in urban India, the Plan panel has said those who are not really poor should be excluded from being enumerated as being poor.
A head count to identify the poor, including their caste and religion, was on Thursday approved by the government, which aims at ensuring that the benefits of the targeted subsidy programme reach them. A meeting of the Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, gave its nod for conducting a census in rural and urban areas to identify those living below poverty line. The enumeration on the basis of caste and religion would be part of the census.
Minister of State for IT and Communications Sachin Pilot would distribute 1,000 mobile handsets with BSNL connections to below poverty line families near Jaipur on Thursday, according to a BSNL official.
Expressing serious concern over the growing instances of starvation deaths in the country, the Supreme Court on Wednesday said there cannot be "two Indias" divided between the elite and the poor.
V R Ferose, MD, SAP Labs India, sums up India's dichotomy, and laughs at its funny side.
Did you opt for a low-key wedding despite having the resources to splurge?
The demand for cash transfers was highest in Bihar at 54 per cent, followed by 34 per cent in Uttar Pradesh and 22 per cent in Jharkhand, where the access to PDS foodgrain was found limited.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Friday said government will soon come out with a draft Food Security Bill.
The government on Friday said it intended extending coverage of its flagship health insurance scheme for poor families to auto-rickshaw drivers, cycle rickshaw pullers, street vendors and rag-pickers.
Recent IMF forecast said China's growth is expected to slow down.
The attorney general told the apex court that the invasion of privacy was very minimal in Aadhaar and it may not even be considered as an invasion.
On the complaint of shortage of foodgrain, the minister said lifting of foodgrain by states/Union Territories under TPDS and other welfare schemes has been less than the allocation made to them.
Titled as 'Global Food Price Inflation and Developing Asia', the report claimed that a 10 per cent rise in domestic food prices could push 64 million Asians to subsist below the poverty line level of $1.25 a day.
The government is undecided on the criteria to be used to identify families living below poverty line in India.
India is the birthplace of four major world religions -- Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism, and Jainism. It is home to the world's third largest Muslim population, a diverse community of sects that includes Sufis, Shia, and Bohra. Roughly three per cent of India's citizens are Christian, and notably, Christians are the religious majority in three of India's 29 states, she said.
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