Question : CENSUS OF BPL FAMILIES

(a) the details of schemes formulated for upgradation of persons living Below Poverty Line (BPL) in the country;

(b) whether the Government is aware that there has been an increase in the number of such persons despite the said schemes in force;

(c) if so, the reasons therefor and if not, the number of such persons brought above poverty line in each State during the last three years and the current year;

(d) the criteria adopted for inclusion of persons in the BPL list and the details of districts identified as poverty stricken, State-wise;

(e) whether the Government proposes to amend the said criteria and to have a fresh census of BPL families;

(f) if so, the details thereof alongwith the methodology to be adopted for the purpose;

(g) whether any directives have been issued to States for revising BPL list; and

(h) if so, the details thereof and the time by which the said census is likely to be conducted?

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT (SHRI PRADEEP JAIN `ADITYA`)

(a): The Ministry of Rural Development is implementing Swarnjayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY), Indira Awaas Yojana (IAY), Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme (IGNOAPS) and Total Sanitation Campaign (TSC) for benefit of persons living Below Poverty Line (BPL) in rural areas of the country.

(b) & (c): The Planning Commission estimates the percentage and number of persons living Below the Poverty Line (BPL) at national and state level, separately in rural and urban areas from the large sample survey on household consumer expenditure conducted by the National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO).

The two latest comparable estimates of poverty are available for the years 1993-94 and 2004-05, according to these, the number of people living below the poverty line for the country as a whole is estimated to have declined from 320.4 million (36% of the total population) in 1993-94 to 301.7 million (27.5% of the total population) in 2004-05. Accordingly it is estimated that the number of people living above the poverty line for the country as a whole increased from 570.3 million (64% of the total population) in 1993-94 to 795.4 million (72.5% of the total population) in 2004-05. The state-wise estimate of the number of people living below the poverty line in the country for 1993-94 and 2004-05 are at annexure-I&II.

(d) to (h): The Ministry of Rural Development provides financial and technical support to the States/UTs for conducting the BPL Census to identify the families living Below the Poverty Line in the rural areas who could be targeted under its programmes. The last BPL Census was conducted in 2002 using the methodology of score based ranking of rural households for which 13 socio-economic parameters were used on the recommendation of an Expert Group constituted by the Ministry of Rural Development.

The Ministry of Rural Development, on 12th August, 2008, constituted an Expert Group, which could advise the Ministry on the methodology for conducting the BPL Census for the Eleventh Five Year Plan which was chaired by Dr. N.C. Saxena. The Expert Group submitted its report on 21st August 2009. The Expert Group recommended the methodology for identification of Below Poverty Line families, which involves automatic exclusion of rural household from the BPL list, automatic inclusion in the BPL list and grading of the remaining households. The report of the Expert Group has been circulated among the States/UTs and the concerned Central Ministries for comments. It has also been posted on the Ministry`s website www.rural.nic.in. The Ministry of Rural Development is in the process of finalizing the methodology to carry out next BPL Census for identification of people living Below the Poverty Line in rural areas of the country, taking into account the suggestions/comments received.

Annexure-I referred to in reply to Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No.1770 to be answered on 08.03.2010 ,

Number of persons living Below Poverty Line by States/UTs as per poverty estimates for 1993-94

SI. No.	States/UTs	No. of Persons (Lakhs)
1	Andhra Pradesh	153.97
2	Arunachal Pradesh	3.73
3	Assam	96.36
4	Bihar	493.36
5	Chhattisgarh	NA
6	Delhi	15.51
7	Goa	1.91
8	Gujarat	105.19
9	Haryana	43.88
10	Himachal Pradesh	15.86
11	Jainmu & Kashmir	20.92
12	Jharkhand	NA
13	Karnataka	156.45
14	Kerala	76.41
15	Madhya Pradesh	298.52
16	Maharashtra	305.22
17	Manipur	6.80
18	Meghalaya	7.38
19	Mizoram	1.94
20	Nagaland	5.05
21	Orissa	160.60
22	Punjab	25.11
23	Rajasthan	128.50
24	Sikkim	1.84
25	Tamil Nadu	202.10
26	Tripura	11.79
27	Uttar Pradesh	604.46
28	Uttarakhand	NA
29	West Bengal	254.56
30	A & N Islands	1.06
31	Chandigarh	0.80
32	Dadra & N. Haveli	0.77
33	Daman & Diu	0.18
34	Lakshadweep	0.14
35	Puducherry	3.31
All-India	3203.68

SI.No.	States/UTs	No. of Persons (Lakhs)
1	Andhra Pradesh	126.10
2	Arunachal Pradesh	2.03
3	Assam	55.77
4	Bihar	369.15
5	Chhattisgarh	90.96
6	Delhi	22.93
7	Goa	2.01
8	Gujarat	90.69
9	Haryana	32.10
10	Himachal Pradesh	6.36
11	Jammu & Kashmir	5.85
12	Jharkhand	116.39
13	Karnataka	138.89
14	Kerala	49.60
15	Madhya Pradesh	249.68
16	Maharashtra	317.38
17	Manipur	3.95
18	Meghalaya	4.52
19	Mizoram	1.18
20	Nagaland	3.99
21	Orissa	178.49
22	Punjab	21.63
23	Rajasthan	134.89
24	Sikkim	1.14
25	Tamil Nadu	145.62
26	Tripura	6.38
27	Uttar Pradesh	590.03
28	Uttarakhand	35.96
29	West Bengal	208.36
30	A & N Islands	0.92
31	Chandigarh	0.74
32	Dadra&N. Haveli	0.84
33	Daman & Diu	0.21
34	Lakshadweep	0.11
35	Puducherry	2.37
All-India	3017.20