(a) whether the States have forwarded the final lists of Below Poverty Line (BPL) people to the Government;
(b) if so, whether the States tend to show more number of people in BPL category to get more funds from the Government;
(c) if so,the details thereof along with the manner in which the Government is going to solve this issue;
(d) whether any criteria/ guidelines have been prepared by the Government to be followed by the States in this regard; and
(e) if so, the details thereof?
MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) FOR MINISTRY OF PLANNING AND MINISTER OF STATE FOR DEFENCE (RAO INDERJIT SINGH)
(a) & (b): The last Below Poverty Line (BPL) Census for the Tenth Five Year Plan period was conducted in 2002. No BPL Census was conducted in the Eleventh Five Year Plan. For the Twelfth Five Year Plan, the Ministry of Rural Development launched a combined Socio Economic and Caste Census (SECC), 2011 which is being conducted through a comprehensive programme involving the Ministry of Rural Development, Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, the Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioners, India and State Governments. Subject of Caste Census comes under purview of Office of Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India (ORGI) and issue of identification of BPL households in urban areas comes under the purview of Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation (HUPA).The Ministry of Rural Development provides financial and technical support to the States/ Union Territories (UTs) for conducting the BPL Census to identify the families living below poverty line in the rural areas who could be targeted under its programmes. The BPL census is conducted by the respective States/ UTs and the BPL lists are prepared and maintained /updated by the State Governments/ UT administrations.
(c) to (e): The Planning Commission as the Nodal agency in the Government of India for estimation of poverty has been estimating the number and percentage of poor at National and State levels only. The State Governments/ Union Territories identify the Below Poverty Line (BPL) families to be benefitted under various schemes and programmes.Based on criteria recommended by N.C.Saxena Committee and Hashim Committee for identification of families to be assisted under Central Government schemes and programmes in rural and urban areas respectively, Ministry of Rural Development and Ministry of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation finalized the criteria for the Socio Economic Caste Census (SECC), 2011 for collecting information on socio economic indicators. The criteria for identifying BPL people in rural and urban areas are given in the statements at annexure I & II respectively.