Just
when the internal political debate on Poverty line estimation fuelled by the
release of Suresh Tendulkar’s Report (₹27/ day for rural and ₹33/day for urban)
and its defence by the ruling UPA government with statements like –‘A meal for
₹5 can be easily found anywhere in Mumbai’, seemed to end, Sushri Mayawati
slammed another such report by C. Rangrajan (₹32/day for rural and ₹47/day for
urban) stating it to be nothing more than a joke on poor people. Such figures
don’t make any sense until or unless it is mentioned that on it depends the
future of 94 million beneficiaries. Rangrajan’s report takes into bracket of
BPL beneficiaries around 94 million more Indians compared to Tendulkar’s
report.
Let
us take a pause from such domestic criteria and focus on international
estimates and significance. The World Bank defines the global poverty line
which is currently $1.25 a day calculated on the basis of 2005 PPP (Purchasing
Power Parity). If u are not actually aware of what PPP is or how is it
calculated, don’t bother yourself much with that, simply understand it as an Economist’s
tool for statistical jugglery. Just for the information, Global poverty line is
significant in order to gradually move towards achieving the goal of eradication
of global poverty.
Now
what I find amusing here is that we are planning and trying hard to achieve a
goal together and globally without properly agreeing to it in spirit. Globally
we might have agreed to a poverty line of $1.25 a day in letter though, but we
all deep inside would agree that even after achieving this, poverty which we
associate with hunger, lack of
opportunities to work, diseases, suicides, begging, crimes, poor education, etc
will not be completely uprooted.
It’s
not that I’m pessimistic about success. It is simply because I believe that poverty
can’t be defined and understood and targeted just by defining an income level
sufficient for someone to buy a pre-defined basket of products sufficient just
for sustenance. Nobody wants just to survive, everybody wants opportunities to
grow. Everybody unless finds opportunities for expanding his horizons be it
related to income, savings, or what not, problems associated with poverty will
remain.
Just
a simple example will clarify why am I being pessimistic about the approach we
have adopted for eradicating the global poverty. Remember that according to one
of the Millennium Development Goals, the
number of people living below the poverty line of $1 (1993 PPP levels) had to be
halved between 1990 and 2015. Now consider the recent development
mentioned below-
World
Bank recently revised PPP index and obviously with that global poverty line
will also be affected with that. By
taking the World Bank-prescribed $1.25 as the poverty line on the previous PPP
index, India had 402 million poor people in 2010 below poverty line. But with
the revised PPP number, the Centre for Global Development's back of the
envelope calculations put the figure at 102.3 million in 2010. See a
drastic change of 300 million overnight. Overnight the MDG has been achieved
just by some statistical jugglery.
Does it mean that overnight 300 million people will
stop struggling with death anymore? Does it mean that about 300 million beggars
will switch over to some earning job overnight? Does it mean that we will have
to face about a 300 million poor kids less on the road near parking signals
selling pencils, flowers, etc? Does it mean that overnight 300 million people
will stop sleeping on the footpath? Does it mean they no longer have to shiver
in chilling cold without clothes on their body? Does it mean that 300 million
people more will have access to education and healthcare overnight? Does it mean
that overnight slums will be converted to decent housing?
I don’t see ‘yes’ as an answer to any of the
questions which naturally comes to us when we say- ‘Yoohoo India now has 300
million less poor people’ . If it is so, then why the hell are we trying to set
goals which even after being achieved will not give any mental peace or
satisfaction. Which even after being achieved change nothing on the ground
level.
Such lines does nothing more than defining the
funds required to be disposed off in the name of social sector schemes like
Food Security Act and all. Just as the issue of Food Security Act has propped up,
I believe such acts are doing more harm to the economy than any good. We can’t
simply try to expand manufacturing and have Food Securities Act simultaneously.
The person who is getting rice and wheat at ₹1/kg and ₹2/kg respectively why
the hell will he work 8-10 hours a day and contribute in expansion of Indian
economy (unless he is educated enough to understand and is sensible towards
growth). I have personally started to feel the impact of FSA, on productivity
and sincerity of labourer in industrial setup. Moreover such social sector
schemes create dual market and in which breeds the corruption. Hence, such
schemes must also be disposed off and funds must be diverted in targeting to
provide employment opportunities, better health care and education.
Even in one of the stories of Akbar and Birbal it
is mentioned that Akbar once asked Birbal to distribute funds to everybody in
his kingdom to reduce poverty. Birbal was intelligent and smart enough not to
do it without making them some effort to earn that money. He simply asked one
to dig a pit and other to fill it for money. This might not have created any
asset for the kingdom but it surely surly saved the ‘value of money’ from
deteriorating. That was simply FSA in return of MNREGA.
It’s high time that we instead of being guided by
such insignificant though eye-catching attractive figures start being sensible
for creating opportunities for everybody to grow, to work, to educate, for a
better heath and disease free India. India has recorded highest number of suicides
in South East Asia in 2012 and that too majority of that is youth in 15-29 age
group. We must tap the advantage of younger population, of the potential of
demographic dividend and stop letting such numbers fool us. Our youth needs
employment opportunities and not just $1.25 per day. The same is what mother
goddess India is begging for. Listen and pay attention to her.
