Press Conference in Yojna Bhawan

A Press Conference has been held at 3 by Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh and Planning Commision Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia.

Montek started with the issue that setting poverty line is a historical method to be followed. He stated that the function of Planning Commision is not to set the poverty line but to provide the beneficiaries which also include universal rights like Right to education. The pverty line set is Rs 32/per day in urban areas and Rs 26/per day in rural areas.

It was made clear that setting a poverty line is the function of Socio-Economic Caste Census.

an affidavit is presented in the Supreme Court. and as per it, a family of five spending less than Rs 4824 per month( as per june,2011 prices) in urban areas will fall in BPL (Below Poverty Line) , similarly in rural areas the figure decided is Rs 3905 per month.

In the conference montek clearly said that Planning Commision strongly supported the National Advisory Council(NAC) levels. The Government has ot curtailed the benefits to BPL sector.

" We will not apply Tendulkar standards for the Food Subsidy.... we will go by the SECC standards," he added.

Ramesh said," There is no link between state-wise poverty estimates and selection of beneficiaries. This SECC will generate the data on which the big schemes will function. It will do away with the cap systems . Once this census is completed, we will come up with the agreed methodology on which the beneficiaries will depend. "