Maharashtra home to 2 crore poor people

The state government may have set an ambitious target of doubling its per capital income from Rs47,051 to Rs1,00,000 in the next five years to boast its economic growth. But what is clearly being overlooked is the alarming growth in poverty in Maharashtra.

The Suresh Tendulkar Committee report has pegged the statistics of both rural and urban poverty in the state above 40%. However, statistics provided by the revenue and food & civil supplies departments shows that total number of individuals covered under the Below Poverty Line (BPL) and Above Poverty Line (APL) works out to be 2 crore. People whose annual income is less than Rs1 lakh a year falls in these categories. Of these, almost 40% have earnings less than Rs3,000 a year.

The 2011 Census pegs the state population at 11.24 crore. However, these statistics are based on the individuals who have authentic ration cards.

To ascertain the exact figures, a survey is likely to commence in Maharashtra from October 2. But the Planning Commission’s revelation in the affidavit submitted to the Supreme Court citing Rs32 a criteria for the BPL category has come as an eye opener for the state administration.

However, the former state planning board chairman Ratnakar Mahajan said, “The Planning Commission was just stating the facts and not suggesting any prescription that Rs32 should be the yard stick to measure BPL category. If you consider the Arjun Sengupta report then it had cited that there are individuals whose consumption is as low as Rs20.”

According to the State Economic Survey (2010), “The poverty ratio in the state during 2004-05 was 30.7% higher than the national average of 27.5%. Though the results at various points of time showed decline in poverty ratios, the number of persons living the Below Poverty Line has gradually increased since 1973-74 and increased by 12.2 lakh persons in 2004-05 as compared to 1993-94.”