Poverty meet rejects panel's methods

from The Times of India

PATNA: The international seminar on poverty on Sunday rejected the Planning Commission method for estimating poverty. It called for reconsideration of the “inherent methodological flaws” in identification of poor households and also favoured the National Development Council (NDC) meet to consider the issue of poverty.

The outcome of the three-day seminar titled “Revisiting the Poverty Issues: Measurement, Identification and Eradication,” was a Patna Consensus agreed upon by the eminent academicians and policy-makers from different research institutions from both in and outside India.

There was a consensus on the point that the 13-Criteria to be adopted for the (below poverty line) BPL census has serious flaws and that both national and state-level estimation methodology should be reconsidered.

“Errors of the present methods pass on the burden of these flaws on the poor through wrongful exclusion of the poor and wrongful inclusion of the non-poor, and even the rich. This cannot be accepted ethically or politically,” the consensus paper said. It suggested that too rigid application of the present methods would penalise the poor and the poorer states.

This is particularly so where state-level BPL census arrives at a percentage of the number of the poor getting the lowest possible score in the 13-Criterion formula that is higher than the official estimate of poverty.

The conference also reviewed issues pertaining to the identification, design, implementation and outcome of various anti poverty strategies and programmes highlighting gaps and key areas of concern. In this context, the conference welcomed an unofficial communication that CM Nitish Kumar had readily agreed to support a social audit - to be conducted independently through a civil society initiative - of the operation of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act in Bihar.

Expressing satisfaction over the conclusions and results of the seminar, Nitish said it will help prepare a new roadmap for the poverty eradication campaign with universal programmes and inclusive growth strategy. “The government will adopt the suggested methodology and recommendations,” he said adding that steps have already been initiated for income and expenditure growth and dignity of the poor.

Deputy Chairman of State Planing Board N K Singh told TOI that since many top academicians and policy-makers are involved in authoring Patna consensus, the centre would be under tremendous pressure to consider the points. He also said the allocation of facilities on the basis of household survey should be made by the Centre as denial of these facilities to them would be a great injustice. “The poverty identification fallacies must be removed,” he added.