March 25, 2008 Redefine Poverty Line
Level,
says Raman Singh
Raipur
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh Tuesday urged the central
government to redefine poverty line level so that the 'real poor'
would get the benefits of the public distribution system (PDS).
"What is the rationale of 27 percent people being accepted by the
Planning Commission as below the poverty line (BPL) when the
prevalence of malnutrition is more than 50 percent", asked the chief
minister while inaugurating a two-day workshop on "Food Security
through PDS: Prospects and Challenges", organised by the state
government here.
Justice D.P. Wadhwa, chairperson of Central Vigilance Committee (CVC)
on PDS, and N.C. Saxena, Commissioner to the Supreme Court in the
Right to Food case, also supported reconsidering the poverty line
level.
According to them, poverty line has been set at unreasonably low
levels. They asked the government to make all offences under the PDS
cognisable and non-bailable.
Wadhwa said the Delhi government has not only accepted the CVC
recommendation to double the income criteria but also enhanced it to
Rs.100,000.
Saxena said he felt that the number of BPL families must be doubled
to ensure that the poorest sections of the society get covered.
Quoting the national sample survey, Saxena said nearly 50 percent of
the poorest families in the country did not have access to
subsidised food grains.
Referring to the delivery mechanism, Wadhwa said corruption has
plagued the system, starting from the Food Corp of India (FCI).
He urged the government to strengthen the legal regime on the PDS
and completely computerise the PDS.
Principal advisor to Planning Commission Santosh Mehrotra, officials
from several states and representatives of different NGOs were among
those attended the workshop.
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