DEVELOPMENT DEFICIT
Monday, 12 September 2011 22:22
BY SUDARSHAN CHHOTORAY
Fearing automatic exclusion from the BPL list, over 3,000 Adivasis took out a rally on September 9 last before the Collectorate in Malkangiri. Protesting against the proposed fresh round of BPL Census and BPL identification process being pursued by the Government, Adivasi Ekta Sangha president Ira Padiami said, “The criteria fixed for BPL Census 2011 along with Caste Census will further deprive us of genuine Government schemes.”
Similarly, holding a Press conference in Bhubaneswar on September 2 last, persons with physical disabilities (PWD) charged the Government for conspiring to leave them out of BPL category as the proposed automatic exclusion criteria will make them ineligible for possessing motorised two/three wheelers. Even, those who have got PCOs under rehabilitation programme, BSNL connections and other such benefits generally given to the BPL families and especially disabled persons will be left out in the enumeration. According to the leaders of
Odisha Disabled People’s Network (ODPN), out of 10.5 lakh disabled in Odisha, only few are in Government jobs and getting pensions, while the rest are living under clouds.
The Government of Odisha is all set to complete the field survey of the BPL Census much before the model code of conduct for elections to the three-tier Panchayati raj Institutions comes into force. The survey which was earlier scheduled in two phases during October next is now further extended to December owing to the non availability of Tablet PCs, the hand -held devices for enumeration.
Below Poverty Line (BPL) Census is conducted every five years to identify poor households in the rural areas to provide assistance under various programmes of the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) and other ministries under the Government of India schemes and State Governments. This time from June 2011, the BPL Census has been commenced in rural and urban areas together with the controversial Caste Census.
According to the guidelines, the BPL Census would be carried out by the State Governments and the MoRD will provide financial and technical support in conducting the same. The entire process will be completed by December 2011.The Planning Commission has provided State wise estimates of poverty, which is proposed to be used as cap. However, it has not provided district level caps.
While justifying the Pilot and BPL Census 2011, the Government has clearly stated that BPL Census 2002 had serious limitations and consequently BPL list drawn had many flaws. There had been reported errors of exclusions and inclusions and APL persons put into BPL category and the vice-versa. This needs to devise a methodology that would avoid earlier shortcomings as far as possible.
In a prelude to the Census, the MoRD had appointed several Expert Groups during 2008 to suggest methodology for identification of the poor. And the last was in August 2008. Accordingly, NCSaxena, Chairperson of the Expert Group, had submitted report in August 2009 and a Pilot study was conducted 254 selected villages across the country to test the validity of indicators of poverty and deprivation.
The pilot study was conducted with two stages Socio-Economic Survey (SES) using structured questionnaire and participatory Socio-Economic Survey (PSES) using Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) technique. The pilot study revealed that automatic exclusion indicators are likely to exclude 28 per cent of the households and deprivation indicators (SC & ST treated as one deprivation) may likely to include 18 per cent to 38 per cent of the households. The Pilot further identified that 66 per cent of SC/ST families are poor, and 34 per cent of them are non poor.
The proposed automatic exclusion criteria fixed for BPL Census 2011 are motorized two/three/four wheeler/fishing boats, mechanized three/four wheeler agriculture equipment such as tractors, harvesters etc., Kisan Credit Card with the credit limit of `50,000 and above, households with any member as Government employee, households with non-agricultural enterprise registered with Government, any member in the family earning more than `10,000 per month, paying income tax or professional tax, households with three or more rooms with all rooms having Pucca roof, owning refrigerator, landline phones, 2.5 acres or more irrigated land with at least one irrigation equipment such as diesel/electric operated bore well/tube well, five acres or more land irrigated for two or more crop seasons, 7.5 acres or more land with at least one irrigation equipment etc. If the Pilot study is to be believed, then 16 per cent of SC/ST households fall under the category of exclusion and 80 per cent of the remaining 84 per cent households have to satisfy two or more deprivation criteria admissible to them due to being SC/ST.
“The criteria proposed by the Government will go against predominantly tribal areas and other poor but less densely populated regions like KBK in Odisha,” said Manas Ranjan of Action Aid India. He further added, “As per proposed methodology, those owning 7.5 acres will be excluded if they have diesel pump. Other areas where poor people have significant holdings of poor quality land without Government irrigation facilities will be negatively impacted by the proposed guidelines”.
Motorising country boats through an Out Board Machine has become necessary even for poor fishing households. These will be excluded.
Estimates suggest that 70 per cent or more sea going fishing households may get excluded in this way. The automatic inclusion criterion involves households without shelter, destitute living on alms, manual scavengers, Primitive Tribal Groups
(PTGs), legally released bonded labourers etc. Take the amount of poverty that the Government is willing to overlook in the distribution of BPL Cards by ranking of remaining households using deprivation indicators. A female headed household with an adult disabled primary school drop-out male member, an acre of land, a two roomed Kutcha house, is guaranteed to be deprived of a BPL card if it does not belong to SC/ST category. Even if it belongs to SC/ST category, it’s highly unlikely that it will get covered as it will satisfy just one deprivation indicator. Apart from these, though the family satisfies more deprivation indicators, it will still not be assured of getting covered under BPL category and will still have a real chance being left out.
The 2011 BPL Survey must also be looked at from the perspective of coming changes in welfare support restricted on the basis of BPL status. The Government has stated that from 2012, the Kerosene subsidy will be restricted to BPL households. Subsidised electricity connections under Rajiv Gandhi Rural Electrification Scheme are already being distributed among BPL stake holders. Thus a household falling out of BPL category will have access neither to subsidized electricity nor Kerosene. Even free health care, education, widow pension, houses under IAY and such other facilities are provided only when there is a BPL card.
This has happened in few villages in Chhellagada Grampanchayat under R.Udayagiri block of Gajapati district. A non-tribal has taken possession of 30 BPL cards. BPL cards are being mortgaged for a paltry sum of rupees. Due to lack of awareness, illiteracy and ignorance, people are purchasing their own quota of BPL rice at `18 from the black marketer.
A report prepared by Odisha Khadhya Adhikar Abhiyan outlined that after the disastrous BPL Survey of 2002, the Government of India is now carrying out yet other anti-poor BPL Survey .Had the 2002 survey been implemented in Odisha, a large number of poor households would have been left out. The faulty identification process would have ensured that in comparison to the poorest district of Koraput, a greater proportion of households in Cuttack would have been selected as BPL. In spite of this, till as end of 2009, the Central Government kept on pushing the Odisha Government to implement the survey.
The new survey which comes after nine years of the last one is no less fraught with errors. This is evident from the proposed poverty estimates, and the proposed methodology for identifying the poor.
While poor people all over India will be adversely affected by this survey, the poor of Odisha will be even more so. The NC Saxena Committee which was formed on the basis of the Supreme Court order on the 2002 BPL Survey, has recommended that at least 84.5 per cent of Odisha’s rural households be identified as BPL. However, another committee (Tendulkar Committee that has nothing to do with the SC order on the 2002 survey) has recommended that 60.8 per cent of Odisha’s households be recognised as BPL. By accepting the latter, the Union Government has planned to push 24 per cent (about 16 lakh households) of the State out of the proposed BPL list. That means three out of every ten poor households will be left out.
To add to this injustice, a majority of Odisha’s farmers, fishers, weavers and other artisans, petty traders and Dalit Christian households will be left out too. Interestingly, State Economy Survey in its latest edition has said poverty in Odisha has come down to 28.17 per cent.
--The writer is a senior freelance journalist
PUBLISHED IN THE PIONEER ON 13TH SEPTEMBER 2011
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