The Plan panel will stick to Rs 32 (urban areas) and Rs 26 (rural areas) as per capita per day expenditure for determining the cut-off for families below the poverty line. However, entitlements will be delinked from the poverty line.
In an effort to end strong criticism of the affidavit filed in the Supreme Court, the Planning Commission Deputy Chairman, Mr Montek Singh Ahluwalia, said, “An affidavit is a factual position. We will update the court and abide by the direction of the court.”
Series of meetings held
Mr Ahluwalia announced this after a series of meetings, first with the Rural Development Minister, Mr Jairam Ramesh, and then with all the Commission members. Mr Ahluwalia met the Prime Minister on Sunday evening after the affidavit created a furore not just in the Opposition, but also within the Government and the Commission.
Defending the affidavit, Mr Ahluwalia said that the Planning Commission did not apply an independent criterion to determine whether the budget of Rs 4,824 a family a month in urban areas and Rs 3,905 in the rural areas was appropriate.
“We accepted the recommendations of the Tendulkar Committee, which was, after all, an expert committee and reported to the court the updated figure on the basis of June 2011 prices, which the court had directed the Planning Commission to calculate,” he said. Mr Ahluwalia said there was no reason to fear that the Tendulkar Committee poverty line would result in the exclusion of families otherwise deserving special assistance. This line will remain a relevant reference point to see whether the benefit of growth has gone deep or not.
Standard of living
Mr Ahluwalia said that this poverty line was not meant to be an acceptable level of living for the common man or aam aadmi . It is actually the standard of living of those at the poverty line in 1973-74.
This is clearly a level below which families are under severe stress, which is the basis of giving them exceptional support embedded in various poverty amelioration policies, including subsidised food and other facilities. The level is low and, therefore, families slightly above the poverty line are also vulnerable, Mr Ahluwalia added.