DEFINING BELOW POVERTY LEVEL (BPL) ??????????

Dear All

Now the present hot topic is how to define and draw a line of poverty. It is the key issue and every one is discussing about this as its precision leads for designing several welfare programmes and further to extend needy support for the targeted groups. 

Down to Earth has brought out an interesting information on this and comments made on this are as follows:

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It is the right issue before us to draw the line for identifying BPL's. With due respect, having advantages and limitations of several criteria mentioned in the article, the real BPL householder were excluded and others were included. This is clear if any one go through the existing white ration cards. More APLs are having white rations cards i.e. BPL.

This issue needs to be addressed in two ways as:

@ Framing of Criteria:

Income and consumption should be taken into criteria. Now a days having a two wheeler, cell phone, toilet, house, children going to education and access for other basic needs have become common due to several governmental and non governmental welfare schemes. In spite of all these challenges in framing the criteria, the exclusion become more than the inclusion of the real BPL and vice a verse for other APLs.

@ Survey:

More problems comes at this stage. Due to various pressure and compulsions,the targeted groups were not able to reach the team. This may be due to poor awareness, poor access and so on which vary from community to community and village to village.

What to do?

Knowing the challenges helps us to transform it into an opportunity with innovation. The answer is simple.

1. Make Panchayat Raj Institute (PRI)accountable for this job.
2. Ask PRI to make a registry of all the households with all the parameters.
3. Involve the stakeholders at all levels &
4. Create participatory and transparent environment as a singe window system.

... this data helps not only for drawing the line between the BPLs and APLs but also for other developmental programmes.

Hope these simple measures certainly improves the mapping of BPLs and thus to work for the reach the right persons with right support.

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Looking forward for better understanding of the guidelines

with thanks