Below Poverty Line (BPL) is a benchmark used by the government of India to indicate economic disadvantage and to identify individuals and households in need of government assistance and aid. It is determined using various parameters which vary from state to state and within states. The present criteria are based on a survey conducted in 2002. Going into a survey due for a decade, India's central government is undecided on criteria to identify families below poverty line.
Internationally, an income of less than ₹150 per day per head of purchasing power parity is defined as extreme poverty. By this estimate, about 12.4% of Indians are extremely poor as of year 2012. Income-based poverty lines consider the bare minimum income to provide basic food requirements; it does not account for other essentials such as health care and education.Poverty and Equity – India The World Bank (2012)
As there is no update of population estimate by the government since 2011, the data on poor people in India is not available. Estimates vary from 34 million to 373 million.
Current method of population Criteria are different for the rural and urban areas. In its Tenth Five-Year Plan, the degree of deprivation is measured with the help of parameters with scores given from 0–4, with 13 parameters. Families with 17 marks or less (formerly 15 marks or less) out of a maximum 52 marks have been classified as BPL. Poverty line solely depends on the per capita income in India rather than level of prices.
Five-Year Plans In its Ninth Five-Year Plan (1995–2002), BPL for rural areas was set at annual family income less than Rs. 20,000, less than two hectares land, and no television or refrigerator. The number of rural BPL families was 650,000 during the 9th Plan. The survey based on this criterion was again carried out in 2002 and the total number of 387,000 families were identified. This figure was in force until September 2006.
There were debates around the comparability of the 1999-2000 NSS data with the 2004-05 data, especially for the rural areas. Data showed a decline in poverty from 36% to 28%, but higher poverty rates in certain areas. Different groups proposed different methods of measuring poverty, but the Planning Commission chose the Tendulkar Committee's method that "updated the expenditure basket and revised the poverty line and consequently estimated the percentage of poor people in India at 37% or 435 million in 2004–05.
In its Tenth Five-Year Plan (2002–2007) survey, BPL for rural areas was based on the degree of deprivation in respect of 13 parameters, with scores from 0–4: landholding, type of house, clothing, food security, sanitation, consumer durables, literacy status, labour force, means of livelihood, status of children, type of indebtedness, reasons for migrations, etc.
The Planning Commission fixed an upper limit of 326,000 for rural BPL families on the basis of a simple survey. Accordingly, families having less than 15 marks out of maximum 52 marks have been classified as BPL and their number works out to 318,000. The survey was carried out in 2002 and thereafter but could not be finalised due to a stay issued by the Supreme Court of India. The stay was vacated in February 2006 and this survey was finalised and adopted in September 2006. This survey formed the basis for benefits under Indian government schemes. The state governments are free to adopt any criteria/survey for state-level schemes.
In its Tenth Five-Year Plan BPL for urban areas was based on degree of deprivation in respect of seven parameters: roof, floor, water, sanitation, education level, type of employment, and status of children in a house. A total of 125,000 upper families were identified as BPL in urban area in 2004. It has been implemented since then.
Those spending over Rs 32 a day in rural areas and Rs 47 in towns and cities should not be considered poor, an expert panel headed by former RBI governor C Rangarajan said in a report submitted to the BJP. The recommendation has only raised the bar marginally.
Based on the Suresh Tendulkar panel's recommendations in 2011–12, the poverty line had been fixed at Rs 27 in rural areas and Rs 33 in urban areas, levels at which getting two meals may be difficult.
The Rangarajan committee was tasked with revisiting the Tendulkar formula for estimation of poverty and identification of the poor after a massive public outcry erupted over the abnormally low poverty lines fixed by UPA government
The case of Kerala Beginning in the 1990s, the government of Kerala started utilizing a multidimensional approach to measuring poor households in the state. This method, called the Kerala method was developed by NGOs and then executed through the local governments called panchayats. This method employs nine parameters as core indicators, and eight more criteria to measure poverty in the state. The core indicators of poverty are related to housing, caste/tribe, source of income, presence of babies, presence of drug addicts, literacy, and sanitation in the household. The additional indicators are composed of socio-cultural factors unique to local regions. Each of the indicators are weighted unequally and severity of each is taken into account. This method was created by involving neighborhood groups called "ayalkoottangal". This approach is viewed as bottom-up because the local people were engaged in the creation of this approach and selection of indicators of poverty; this marked the Kerala method as more participatory than the BPL.
In Kerala, there are nine parameters. Families which lack access to four or more parameters are classified as BPL.
The nine parameters for urban areas are: No land or less than five cents of land No house or dilapidated house No sanitation latrine Family with an illiterate family member No regular employed person in the family No access to safe drinking water Women-headed household or presence of widows or divorcee Scheduled castes and scheduled tribes (SC/ST) intellectually disabled or disabled member in the family
Kerala experienced significant changes in its social welfare system for people living below the poverty line. Before 1997, nearly 95% of Kerala's families held a ration card and were able to reap the benefits of the Public Distribution System (PDS). The beneficiaries were 'equitably spread across income groups in both rural and urban areas.' Fair price shops were conveniently located in both urban and rural spaces, and 'no individual needed to walk more than 2 km' to access rice and wheat. The PDS system of Kerala was among the most effective in the entire nation and as a result, Kerala was among the top states in lowering overall poverty.
In 1997, the Indian government changed the PDS to focus on the poorest families; PDS became Targeted PDS. The government issued new cards to families living below the poverty line and restricted access to the fair price shops to the beneficiaries of the TDPS only. While the BPL counted 25% of Kerala's families as eligible for the PDS, the Kerala government identified 42% of the population as poor households and beneficiaries of the BPL. Due to this discrepancy, the state itself provided subsidies from its own budget. But due to the new schemes, constant changes and variance in prices led to confusion among the beneficiaries. With higher food prices for people living above the poverty line, many ration shops lost business.
Income based poverty line in India The poverty line was originally fixed in terms of income/food requirements in 2000. It was stipulated that the calorie standard for a typical individual in rural areas was 2400 calorie and was 2100 calorie in urban areas. Then the cost of the grains (about 650 g) that fulfil this normative standard was calculated. This cost was the poverty line. In 1978, it was Rs. 61.80 per person per month for rural areas and Rs. 71.30 for urban areas. And Since then the Planning Commission calculates the poverty line every year adjusting for inflation. The poverty line in recent years is as follows – (Rs. per month per head) Year India rural India urban 2000–2001 328 454 2005–2006 368 558 2011–2012 816 1000 This income is bare minimum to support the food requirements and does not provide much for the other basic essential items like health, education etc. That is why sometimes the poverty lines have been described as starvation lines.
Fixing of cut-off marks at 17 The Socio Economic Survey conducted during 2002 was based on 13 Socio economic indicators (enlisted by Government of India ) indicating the quality of life and by Score-based ranking for all households. Each of the indicators have 0–4 marks. Thus for 13 indicators, the tentative marks obtained by the families are from 0–52 for all the Districts. The Supreme Court of India in Writ Petition No. 196/2001 filed by People's Union for Civil Liberties, the result of Below Poverty Line census 2002 need not be finalised. Later in October 2005 the Government of India informed that based on the advice given by the Additional Solicitor General, it has been decided to finalise the results of Below Poverty Line Census 2002 without deleting the Below Poverty Line families already existing in the Below Poverty Line list of Below Poverty Line Census 1997 and to follow the following procedure for finalisation of Below Poverty Line list.
Preparation of Below Poverty Line list Approval in Gram Sabha Appeal to Block Development Officer and Collector. Display of Final List
The Government of India then decided that the Below Poverty Line list for 2002 could be finalised as per original guidelines. The Director of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj stated that in the Below Poverty Line survey done in 1991 out of 8,433,000 Rural families 3,446,000 families were identified as Below Poverty Line families. In the Below Poverty Line survey done in the year 1999 out of 9,388,000 rural families 2,737,000 families were identified as Below Poverty Line families. He has stated that if the cut off mark is fixed as 16 the total number of families would be 2,548,000 families against the total families of 8,665,000 which is lesser than the number of families indicated by Government of India viz. 2,677,000 families. If the cut off mark is fixed as 17 marks, then the total the number of Below Poverty line families would be 3,051,000. This is marginally above the number of families indicated by Government of India. i.e. 2,677,000 families. He has therefore recommended that the cut off marks to arrive at the number of Below Poverty Line families may be fixed at 17 so that no Below Poverty Line family gets left out of the list and requested orders of Government in this regard. The Government after detailed examination has decided to accept the proposal of the Director of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj and accordingly order to fix the cut off mark as 17 for identification of a family as Below Poverty Line family.8. The Director of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj is requested to take necessary further action for finalisation of Below Poverty Line List for rural areas of this state as per the procedure laid down by Government of India.
BPL Beneficiaries