Dr Bhalchandra Mungekar, a member of Congress party's manifesto committee and a former member of the Planning Commission, told DNA that funds for the scheme won't be an issue since the party is committed to eradicating poverty.
The Congress party said it arrived at a monthly income of Rs 12,000 per household as a cut-off poverty line for the Congress's so-called Nyuntam Aay Yojana (NYAY), or Minimum Income Programme, following rigorous consultations with national and international economists, after accounting for basic family needs, such as food, medical care, health and education, essential to lead a life of dignity.
Dr Bhalchandra Mungekar, a member of Congress party's manifesto committee and a former member of the Planning Commission, told DNA that funds for the scheme won't be an issue since the party is committed to eradicating poverty. "Before launching the scheme, a technically and scientifically sound pilot survey would be conducted to avoid implementation loopholes."
But experts believe the scheme might not be enforceable even in a booming economy, and caution against such "political populism".
Dr Abhay Pethe, a senior economist from the Mumbai School of Economic and Public Policy, said the scheme is difficult to implement even if the economy grows at more than eight percent in the future, if one gauges the adverse fiscal effect that it might have.
"There will be a rollback of all the centrally sponsored schemes for want of funds. This is kind of proposition which has to have a sunset clause as there is every danger that vested interests will be created as usual defeating the whole purpose. Further, the selection of beneficiaries will itself be problematic and there will be a lot of statistical error of inclusion of non deserving households," said Dr Pethe.
He added that the proposed NYAY scheme is a spin-off of the universal basic income programme propagated earlier by former chief economic advisor Arvind Subramaniam. The scheme won't meet its desired success unless the economy is rich and egalitarian, he said.
Mungekar said the entire exercise began with 1971 Garibi Hatao scheme of Indira Gandhi. Following which the Integrated Rural Development Programme was incorporated in the sixth five-year plan. During the eighth and ninth five-year plans, the cut-off for the poverty line was raised significantly following the recommendations of the Suresh Tendulkar committee. It went beyond the conventional norms of 'calorie intake' and included several other basic amenities for a relatively better life while arriving at a number.
"In view of this, in the 11th five-year plan attempts were made to achieve faster growth and make it more inclusive. It was a turning point in India's economic planning and 60% of the total outlay worth Rs 14.45 lakh crore was allocated for social sector development which included health, education and sanitation," said Dr Mungekar.
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