GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

MINISTRY OF PLANNING

RAJYA SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.2527

TO BE ANSWERED ON 25.08.2011

BPL VARIATIONS IN STATES

2527. SHRIMATI MOHSINA KIDWAI:

Will the PRIME MINISTER be pleased to state:

(a) whether figures relating to below poverty line by the State and Union Government are at variance;

(b) if so, the details of the figures presented by the States and the Centre;

(d) if so, the details thereof;

(e) whether Government has studied the N.C. Saxena report on the determination of poverty criteria; and

(f) if so, the details thereof?

ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE FOR PLANNING, SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

AND EARTH SCIENCES

(DR. ASHWANI KUMAR)

(a): This is too early to get below poverty line (BPL) households figure for the states as well as for the country as the Socio-Economic survey is underway. Figures of 2002 rural BPL survey on one hand and Poverty estimation of the Planning Commission then on the other have variations as both of them are not the same & hence not comparable because both exercises are based on different methodologies.

(b): The population figures emerging from the estimation done by the Planning Commission based on data from Large Sample Survey on Household Consumer Expenditure carried out by the National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO) in 2004-05 & the BPL families as per BPL survey of 2002 in rural areas are in Annexure- I &II respectively.

(c) & (d): The Planning Commission estimates BPL persons after approximately every five years based on the Large Sample Survey on Household Consumer Expenditure conducted by the NSSO. The last poverty estimates were released for the year 2004-05. Planning Commission is in the process of estimating the revised per capita poverty line as per the Tendulkar methodology on the basis of 2009-10 NSSO survey data on Household Consumer Expenditure which are now available.

(e) & (f): The Expert Group (EG) constituted under the chairmanship of Dr. N.C. Saxena by Ministry of Rural Development to advise on the methodology for BPL Census in rural areas submitted its report in August, 2009. The recommendations of the EG were discussed with State Governments/Union Territory (UT) administrations, the concerned Central Ministries and other experts. On the basis of suggestions of the experts, a pre testing of the methodology through a Pilot study was conducted. Based on consultations with States/UTs and other experts, in the light of the findings of the pilot survey, the methodology to conduct door to door census of rural households for identification of BPL households has been finalized.

The BPL Census 2011 is underway to identify the people Below Poverty line (BPL) based on a self-declaration of respondents in response to the criteria finalized for the survey by the Ministry of Rural Development. In rural areas the classification of households is to be done in three steps. The first stage is to apply the exclusion criteria. When any household satisfies any of the 13 criteria, the household will be excluded – (list of criteria enclosed as Annexure-III). Subject to exclusion criteria, five categories of families will be compulsorily included (List of categories enclosed).

Inclusion priority – Households eligible under compulsory inclusion will have highest priority. For the households eligible for ranking under deprivation indicators as above, a deprivation score would be derived for each household by adding up the number of deprivations satisfied by the household. This score will vary from a minimum 0 to maximum 7. The order of priority for inclusion of households in the BPL list would be from largest number of deprivations to smallest number of deprivations. For the purpose of coverage under welfare schemes of the Government, households eligible for compulsory inclusion will have highest priority, followed by households with higher deprivation scores. For such welfare programme where universal coverage is not permissible, the system would be capable of generating a ranking of priority household till poverty caps prescribed by the Planning Commission are attained. The deprivation cut-off will be chosen in such a manner that the total percentage of households will be less than or equal to the cut-off poverty ratio prescribed by the Planning Commission. The difference in the number of households prescribed by Planning Commission and arrived at by deprivation cut-off method, if any, will be identified by permitting households with one less deprivation than deprivation cut-off from Panchayats which have highest percentage of SC/ST population in the State arranged seriatim in decreasing order of percentage of SC/ST population. This method can be used to arrive at any cut-off as required.

Annexure-1

Statement Showing State-wise Population Below Poverty Line in 2004-05 (Based on URP-Consumption) Referred to Part (b) of the Rajya Sabha Unstarred Question No. 2527 for Answer on 25.08.2011 Regarding ‘BPL Variations in States’

(No. in lakhs)

S. No.	States/ UTs	2004-05 (Number of BPL people – Rural+Urban)
1	Andhra Pradesh	126.1
2	Arunachal Pardesh	2.03
3	Assam	55.77
4	Bihar	369.15
5	Chhattisgarh	90.96
6	Delhi	22.93
7	Goa	2.01
8	Gujarat	90.69
9	Haryana	32.1
10	Himachal Pradesh	6.36
11	Jammu &Kashmir	5.85
12	Jharkhand	116.39
13	Karnataka	138.89
14	Kerala	49.6
15	Madhya Pradesh	249.68
16	Maharashtra	317.38
17	Manipur	3.95
18	Meghalaya	4.52
19	Mizoram	1.18
20	Nagaland	3.99
21	Orissa	178.49
22	Punjab	21.63
23	Rajasthan	134.89
24	Sikkim	1.14
25	Tamil Nadu	145.62
26	Tripura	6.38
27	Uttar Pradesh	590.03
28	Uttarakhand	35.96
29	West Bengal	208.36
30	A & N Island	0.92
31	Chandigarh	0.74
32	D &N Haveli	0.84
33	Daman & Diu	0.21
34	Lakshadweep	0.11
35	Pudducherry	2.37
	Total	3017.2

URP consumption= Uniform Recall Period consumption in which the consumer expenditure data for all the items are collected from 30 day recall period.

Notes:

1. Poverty Ratio of Assam is used for Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland and Tripura.

2. Poverty line of Maharashtra and expenditure distribution of Goa is used to estimate poverty ratio of Goa.

3. Poverty Ratio of Tamil Nadu is used for Pudducherry and A &N.Island.

4. Urban Poverty Ratio of Punjab used for both rural and urban poverty of Chandigarh.

5. Poverty line for Maharashtra and expenditure distribution of Dadra & Nagar Haveli is used to estimate poverty ratio of Dadar & Nagar Haveli.

6. Poverty Ratio of Goa is used for Daman &Diu.

7. Poverty Ratio of Kerala is used for Lakshadweep

Annexure-II

Statement Showing State-wise Number of BPL Families Identified by the States/UTs Under BPL Census 2002 in Rural Areas Referred to Part (b) of the Rajya Sabha Unstarred Question No.2527 for Answer on 25.08.2011 Regarding ‘BPL Variations in States’

. (Families in lakh)

S. No.	States/ UTs	No of BPL families identified by States/ UTs
1	Andhra Pradesh	29.893
2	Arunachal Pardesh $	0.830
3	Assam$	18.728
4	Bihar	113.410
5	Chhattisgarh	17.892
6	Delhi*	-
7	Goa	0.071
8	Gujarat	14.512
9	Haryana	8.583
10	Himachal Pradesh	2.823
11	Jammu &Kashmir	6.179
12	Jharkhand	25.480
13	Karnataka	19.190
14	Kerala	NA
15	Madhya Pradesh	40.842
16	Maharashtra	45.025
17	Manipur$	1.693
18	Meghalaya$	2.052
19	Mizoram$	0.374
20	Nagaland$	1.558
21	Orissa	NA
22	Punjab	3.445
23	Rajasthan	17.362
24	Sikkim	NA
25	Tamil Nadu	34.848
26	Tripura	NA
27	Uttar Pradesh	100.271
28	Uttarakhand	6.238
29	West Bengal$	39.250
30	A & N Island**	0.107
31	Chandigarh*	-
32	D &N Haveli	0.160
33	Daman & Diu	0.005
34	Lakshadweep	NA
35	Puducherry	NA
	Total	550.821

*Rural Development programmes are not implemented.

$- Number of families as per Adjusted Share of Poverty Estimates of 1999-2000, whichever is higher.

**For Andaman only.

NA: BPL list not finalized by State Government.

Annexure – III

Statement Referred to Part (e) & (f) of Rajya Sabha Unstarred Question NO. 2527 to be Answered on 25.08.2011 on ‘BPL Variations in States’ Giving Details of Criteria’s in Rural Areas Based Upon Recommendations of N.C. SAXENA Committee Report, August 2009 as Finalised with Modifications by the Ministry of Rural Development

1. List of Automatic Exclusions: The following are the criteria for automatic exclusions:-

(i) Households owning Motorized Two/Three/Four Wheelers/Fishing boats (which require registration);

(ii) Households owning mechanized Three/Four wheeler agricultural equipments such as tractors, harvesters etc;

(iii) Households having Kisan Credit Card with the credit limit of Rs.50,000 and above;

(iv) Households with any member as Government Employee: gazetted and non-gazetted employees of Central government, State government, Public Sector Undertakings, Government-aided autonomous bodies and local bodies. This will exclude incentive and other honorarium based workers;

(v) Households with Enterprises registered with the Government for any purpose: any non-agricultural enterprise registered with the Central or State Governments;

(vi) Households with any member in the family earning more than Rs. 10,000 p.m.;

(vii) Households paying income tax or professional tax;

(viii) Households with three or more rooms with pucca walls and pucca roof;

(ix) Households owning Refrigerator;

(x) Households owning landline phones;

(xi) Households owning 2.5 acres or more irrigated land with at least one irrigation equipment such as diesel/ electric operated bore well/ tube well;

(xii) 5 acres or more land irrigated for two or more crop seasons;

(xiii) Households owning 7.5 acres or more land with at least one irrigation equipment such as diesel/ electric operated borewell / tubewell;

2. List of Automatic Inclusions: Following categories of households would be compulsorily included subject to exclusion criteria.

(i) Households without shelter;

(ii) Destitutes/living on alms;

(iii) Manual scavengers;

(iv) Primitive Tribal Groups;

(v) Legally released bonded labourers;

3. Deprivation Indicators: The following are the deprivation indicators used for inclusion:-

(i) Households with only one room with kucha walls and kucha roof;

(ii) Households with no adult member between age 16 to 59;

(iii) Female headed households with no adult male member between age 16 to 59;

(iv) Households with any disabled member and no able bodied adult member;

(v) SC/ST households;

(vi) Households with no literate adult above 25 years;

(vii) Landless households deriving the major part of their income from manual casual

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