09-10-2009, 07:54 AM
http://telegraphindia.com/1090910/jsp/nati...ry_11475495.jsp
Poor criteria recast call
- Panel wants weightage for caste and religion
OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
New Delhi, Sept. 9: For the first time, caste and religion may help determine whether a family should receive poverty benefits if an experts panelâs suggestions are accepted by the government.
The criteria for inclusion in the below-poverty-line (BPL) list ought to be eased for Muslims, Dalits, tribals, the Most Backward Castes and the Other Backward Classes, the committee set up by the rural development ministry has recommended.
The panel, tasked to work out a methodology for the 2009 BPL survey, had in a preliminary report suggested five exclusion criteria: monthly income over Rs 5,000 or ownership of a pucca house, or two-wheeler, or mechanised farm implement like a tractor, or landholding above the district average.
Its final report has added the caste-religion factor as well as a few other recommendations, such as compulsory inclusion of households headed by single women or those with physically challenged members as breadwinners. (See chart)
The ministry has sent the report to all state governments for their opinion. âWe are aware of the sensitive aspects of the recommendations and will take a decision only after consultations with everyone concerned,ââ a ministry official said.
N.C. Saxena, the committee chairperson, said Muslims lagged behind the rest of the population in employment, education and consumption.
Quoting the Sachar Committee report, the experts panel said the worker-population ratio is significantly lower for Muslims. Itâs especially low among Muslim women, the earners among whom are mostly self-employed.
âAs employees, Muslims are seen to be largely employed as casual labourers, and the participation of Muslims in salaried jobs is especially low even when juxtaposed against traditionally disadvantaged groups such as SC/STs,ââ the committee report says.
It adds that 38.4 per cent of Muslims qualify as poor under the current BPL criteria, fixed in 2002. The national average is 28.5 per cent â a figure that is expected to rise above 50 per cent if the five new suggested criteria are accepted.
âThe lack of Muslim participation in political space and governance has negatively impacted the access of this community to government schemes and programmes,ââ the report says.
Under the committeeâs guidelines, widows, deserted/separated/divorced women, and unmarried women above 35 count as single women.
The committee says a single womanâs calorie consumption is, on an average, less than 90 per cent of a married womanâs and adds that none of the existing welfare schemes addresses this groupâs needs.
The existing BPL criteria, prepared in 2002, take into account 13 parameters for exclusion from the list, keeping the BPL numbers relatively low.
The first BPL census, in 1992, was based on income and the second, in 1997, on consumption and expenditure.
Top
Poor criteria recast call
- Panel wants weightage for caste and religion
OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
New Delhi, Sept. 9: For the first time, caste and religion may help determine whether a family should receive poverty benefits if an experts panelâs suggestions are accepted by the government.
The criteria for inclusion in the below-poverty-line (BPL) list ought to be eased for Muslims, Dalits, tribals, the Most Backward Castes and the Other Backward Classes, the committee set up by the rural development ministry has recommended.
The panel, tasked to work out a methodology for the 2009 BPL survey, had in a preliminary report suggested five exclusion criteria: monthly income over Rs 5,000 or ownership of a pucca house, or two-wheeler, or mechanised farm implement like a tractor, or landholding above the district average.
Its final report has added the caste-religion factor as well as a few other recommendations, such as compulsory inclusion of households headed by single women or those with physically challenged members as breadwinners. (See chart)
The ministry has sent the report to all state governments for their opinion. âWe are aware of the sensitive aspects of the recommendations and will take a decision only after consultations with everyone concerned,ââ a ministry official said.
N.C. Saxena, the committee chairperson, said Muslims lagged behind the rest of the population in employment, education and consumption.
Quoting the Sachar Committee report, the experts panel said the worker-population ratio is significantly lower for Muslims. Itâs especially low among Muslim women, the earners among whom are mostly self-employed.
âAs employees, Muslims are seen to be largely employed as casual labourers, and the participation of Muslims in salaried jobs is especially low even when juxtaposed against traditionally disadvantaged groups such as SC/STs,ââ the committee report says.
It adds that 38.4 per cent of Muslims qualify as poor under the current BPL criteria, fixed in 2002. The national average is 28.5 per cent â a figure that is expected to rise above 50 per cent if the five new suggested criteria are accepted.
âThe lack of Muslim participation in political space and governance has negatively impacted the access of this community to government schemes and programmes,ââ the report says.
Under the committeeâs guidelines, widows, deserted/separated/divorced women, and unmarried women above 35 count as single women.
The committee says a single womanâs calorie consumption is, on an average, less than 90 per cent of a married womanâs and adds that none of the existing welfare schemes addresses this groupâs needs.
The existing BPL criteria, prepared in 2002, take into account 13 parameters for exclusion from the list, keeping the BPL numbers relatively low.
The first BPL census, in 1992, was based on income and the second, in 1997, on consumption and expenditure.
Top