|
According to India’s Economic Planning Body:
‘Any villager earning 50 cents a day not poor’
India: India’s economic planning body has said any villager
earning 50 cents a day is not poor and should not qualify for a
government ration card — a figure condemned by experts on Wednesday.
Those with a daily income of 25 rupees (50 cents) in villages and 32
rupees (65 cents) in cities should be ineligible for subsidised food and
other supplies, the Planning Commission told India’s Supreme Court.
Anyone earning above these levels would have enough funds for “food,
education and health”, the commission said in a submission to the court
lodged on Tuesday.
The proposed new benchmarks, which have already been approved by
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s office, were condemned by poverty
experts as unrealistic — especially with India’s soaring inflation.
“There is no way one person can feed and house himself on 32 rupees
in a city for a day. This figure has no meaning for the common man,”
Anupama Datta, deputy head of the National Slum Dwellers Federation,
told AFP.
The Planning Commission, which says it has to set the poverty line to
make optimal use of funds, filed the figures after the Supreme Court
requested the updating of the cut-off point in the face of India’s near
double-digit inflation.
While India boasts a burgeoning class of urban rich thanks to a
fast-growing economy, hundreds of millions of people still face a lack
of food, clean water and proper housing.
“A kilogramme (2.2 pounds) of rice costs 40 rupees which would last a
family just one day,” said New Delhi housemaid Ambeka Muthuswami, adding
that three bananas cost about 10 rupees.
India’s proposed poverty line cut-off is far below the World Bank’s
figure of $1.25 a day.
Prominent Indian social activist Aruna Roy told the DNA newspaper
that the level reflected “the government’s lack of empathy for the poor”
and a “perspective completely divorced from reality.”
New Delhi, Thursday, AFP |
