[Reader-list] Reg: Set - 12 on Right to Food

Rakesh Iyer rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com
Mon Aug 9 22:54:46 IST 2010


Right to Food: Confusion over counting the poor *New Delhi: * Asha, a Rag
picker holds out a roti with salt and says, "Most days we eat only this.
Rice is ` 20 a kilo. We can't afford two rice meals a day."

 "It pains to see my family go hungry. But what can you do with ` 100 income
a day?", adds rickshaw puller, Mohammad Zafar.

Zaffar and Asha are homeless who earn about ` 100 a day for their 4-5 member
families and have no social security to speak of. Undoubtedly they are poor
but do they fit the Indian government's description of poverty that can
secure them under the Food Security Bill?

Well, they don't know and nor do we because India does not have a definitive
definition of poverty.


Read more at:
http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/right-to-food-confusion-over-counting-the-poor-19364?cp


The Planning Commission has been asked to define 'Below Poverty Line' so
that we know how many people fall in the bracket.

The number of poor are ambiguous as there is no consensus whatsoever among
the various surveys.

Here are the figures:


   - Planning Commission: 27%
   - Suresh Tendulkar Report: 37%
   - Committee on unorganised sectors: 77%
   - United Nations : More than 75% Indians earn less than ` 90 a day


Congress Spokesperson, Manish Tiwari says, "That is because different
organisations are using different yardsticks to measure poverty levels. That
is why the government is attempting to harmonise and reconcile it so you
have a final number of people Below the Poverty Line."

The difference between those living below the poverty line and those
slightly above it is very bleak. The fact of the matter is, they both belong
to the very poor section of our country. The least they expect from the
government they elected to power is the Right to Food.

Kamal Chenoy, Right To Food campaigner says, "It is not easy to identify the
poor. But what is clear is that if you assess by nutritional values, the
number is pretty high. The only way to assess is take into account all the
people who have BPL cards. And the Planning Commission itself says that 40
per cent of BPL people don't have cards."

The millions of poor and borderline poor in the country are still waiting
for the government's final verdict on poverty


Read more at:
http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/right-to-food-confusion-over-counting-the-poor-19364?cp


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