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The Poverty Of Statistics

Did the previous regime consciously 'edit out' five crore Indians eligible for BPL benefits?

Outlook
  • A scoreboard ranking system based on socio-economic indicators rather than the income-expenditure approach in the BPL census 1992 and 1997 was introduced.

  • The identification and sub-categorisation of the poor was based on 13 indicators; each surveyed family was given scores on a scale of 0 to 4. The indicators included size of land holding; type of house; availability of clothing per person; food security; sanitation; possession of consumer durables; literacy; status of household in labour force; means of livelihood; status of children; type of indebtedness; reasons for migration in case of a migrant household; and preference for assistance from among various schemes.

  • Only those families with low scores qualified for the BPL category.
Published At:
US