All Government programmes that aim to distribute benefits to the poor stand delinked from the Planning Commission's below poverty line (BPL) criterion. This was stated by the Rural Development Minister, Mr Jairam Ramesh, at a joint press conference with the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, Mr Montek Singh Ahluwalia.

Mr Ramesh said, “The Government will take into account seven dimensions of deprivation, based on the indicators that are being collected through the Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC), 2011.” This will help in arriving at specific entitlements that rural households will receive under various Central government programmes and schemes, he added.

He said an expert committee of the Planning Commission and the Rural Development Ministry will be set up to work out an ‘agreed' methodology for entitlements. The committee will consult all the States as well as civil society and come out with a methodology based on the Census, which will be completed by January 2012. This methodology will seek to ensure that no poor or deprived household will be excluded from coverage under different government programmes and schemes.

At present, benefits under various programmes and schemes are distributed according to the BPL list prepared on the basis of Census 2001, which puts a cap on how many families will be benefitted.

Under the new system, the proposed Food Security Act will set a benchmark for the proportion of population to be covered. No other scheme will have a lower population than this benchmark, he added. The draft Bill on food security proposes benefits that go beyond the BPL to a “priority category”, which works out to 41 per cent nationally, with 46 per cent in rural areas and 22 per cent in urban areas.

>Shishir.s@thehindu.co.in

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