[Reader-list] Present list of BPL families a flawed one, says report- 156

[Taha Mehmood]

Dear All

Now that UIDC is on the anvil we are told that BPL list is flawed.
Just as with a introduction of a new technology older technologies are
discarded so as with Nandan Nilekani assuming office last Thursday and
with the idea of UIDC gaining some form  the perception with respect
to the efficacy of BPL/AAY and other lists is dwindling.

However old and new are not static terms. They are dynamic. What is
old now must have new once similarly what is new today will become old
in not too distant a future.

I would like to think that just as there seems to be a euphoria
amongst various sections of the industry and some departments of the
government of India regarding UIDC so as there must have been a lot of
excitement some sixty years ago when the then government of India must
have sought to introduce a 'new' scheme to identity all the people
living Below the poverty line  and genuinely contribute to make
poverty history.

 It's another matter that BPL could not cut the mustard. Will it be
another matter, in another age, maybe sixty years from now when we
will realize the UIDC too couldn't get it right?

Warm regards

Taha


http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/NEWS/City/Jaipur/Present-list-of-BPL-families-a-flawed-one-says-report/articleshow/4804814.cms

Present list of BPL families a flawed one, says report
TNN 22 July 2009, 04:26am IST

JAIPUR: The method used for identification of Below Poverty Line (BPL)
families should be drastically revised in all states and Union
Territories
as the present BPL list is a flawed one, observed an expert group
appointed by the Union rural development ministry here on Tuesday.

At a core group meeting to discuss the issues concerning indicators of
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) with special reference to health
and education in Rajasthan, N C Saxena, former secretary, Planning
Commission and chairman of the expert group on "Estimation of poverty
and identification of BPL households in Rural India" said that the
percentage of people entitled to BPL status should be drastically
revised upwards to at least 50%, though the calorie norm of 2400 would
demand this figure to be 80%.

According to the monthly bulletin of the food ministry, there are more
than 10.5 crore BPL/AAY cards in the country, which would account for
roughly 53 crore people, said Saxena. This figure is very close to
what his group is recommending. According to Saxena, a gross error of
exclusion and inclusion has crept into the BPL list because of "flawed
methodology" followed in the past. Multiple lists created confusion
and also lead to administrative corruption. "One Panchayat one list"
should be goal for the government, he observed.

The meeting was attended by senior officials of state, planning
department, representatives of UN bodies, experts and researchers. The
meeting was chaired by additional chief secretary (development) Alka
Kala.

The identification of BPL families in the state will be done from
August 2009 to January 2010, over a six month period. In case it is
delayed beyond January 2010, it would be difficult to get enough staff
to complete the process as the work for Census 2011 would have begun
by then, which require huge manpower.

Saxena, while discussing the MDG targets and challenges said that
national poverty reduction programmes are under the spotlight more
than ever before. He said that BPL list is of enormous importance to
Union and state governments as well as the rural population at large.
The total number of people to be included and the criteria for
inclusion is central to poverty alleviation. He suggested that
panchayat-wise number of the poor should be declared by the district
authorities.

Additional chief secretary Alka Kala emphasised that women empowerment
and nurturing of children are major concerns in the social service
sector. The question of maternal mortality rate (MMR) -- which is one
goal of MDGs with respect to Rajasthan -- is faring badly. She said
that women's health suffers right from childhood - she is
malnourished, underweight and anaemic and has not been reached by the
public health system.

The meeting was attended by Gurjot Kaur, principal secretary,
planning, Mira Mahrishi, principal secretary, women and child
development, R K Meena, principal secretary, medical and health
sciences and senior officials. Reports of three convergence districts,
prepared by the district collectors of Sawai Madhopur, Barmer and
Udaipur, were also presented and various indicators were discussed.

Rajasthan UNICEF chief Samuel Muwunganidz and state programme
coordinator of UNFPA Sunil Thomas Jacob emphasized on improving the
infrastructure and generating awareness among the local communities to
enable them to get the benefits of various developmental schemes.