New Delhi: Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh questioned the way poverty is calculated in the country on Saturday through Twitter.
“I have always failed to understand the Planning Commission criteria for fixing poverty line. It is too abstract, can’t be same for all areas” Singh tweeted this morning.
Digvijay Singh said on Twitter, “First indicator of Poverty is Malnourishment and Anaemia in the Family which is easily measurable. Can’t we have that as a criteria?”
Singh had joined Union Law and Justice Minister Kapil Sibal who also criticized the Planning Commission’s methodology of calculating poverty in Kolkata. Singh had used the micro-blogging site Twitter to express his concerns about the calculation of the poverty line.
Kapil Sibal while addressing in Kolkata, said, “If the Planning Commission said those who live above Rs. 5000 a month are not at poverty line, obviously there is something wrong with the definition of poverty in this country. How can anybody live at Rs. 5000?”
Kapil Sibal had conveyed that the process employed by the Planning Commission to calculate poverty was problematic on Friday.
According to the Tendulkar methodology, the Commission has calculated the national poverty line at Rs. 816 per capita per month in villages and Rs. 1000 per capita per month in cities.
The Commission had stated earlier this week that for a family of five, the all-India poverty line with regard to consumption expenditure would amount to Rs. 4,080 per month in rural areas and Rs. 5,000 per month in urban areas.
Meanwhile the controversy had began when Congress MP and spokesperson Raj Babbar said that A full meal would cost Rs. 12 in Mumbai followed soon by party MP Rasheed Masood who also said it’s Rs. 5 in Delhi near Jama Masjid. Opposition had also made an issue of this comment and due to which Raj Babbar had taken its statement on Friday.
Bureau Report
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