New Delhi: BJP on Tuesday described as
"irrational, unrealistic and unacceptable" the government
benchmark for an individual to fall under BPL category and
demanded that the amount be raised higher to put more people
in the list of beneficiaries.
"BJP finds the limit of Rs 20 per day earnings for a
person to be Below the Poverty Line as irrational, unrealistic
and unacceptable. We will not accept this limit. Government
needs to redefine poverty parameters," BJP spokesperson Rajiv
Pratap Rudy said.
Asked whether BJP and NDA ruled states were increasing
the parameters for listing BPL families, Rudy said Bihar's
list of BPL has more people than the Planning Commission
number for BPL in the state.
"We need to redefine poverty parameters. Inflationary
trends have gone so high and the Rs 20 per day figure is so
nominal. More factors- related to health, education, etc-
should be included to decide BPL. The poor are getting a raw
deal," Rudy said.
He suggested a poverty-based census for the country.
BJP also lamented that there was no unanimity about the
exact number of people who fall in BPL category with the
Tendulkar committee, Arjun Sengupta Committee and N C Saxena
Committee giving different figures.
Sengupta said 78 per cent of the people fell in BPL
while Saxena put the figure at 50 per cent.
PTI
First Published: Wednesday, May 25, 2011, 00:01