How can a person can be called as "Vikas pusrush" when 32 people out of 100 are poor? Gujarat has a high 31.8 per cent population living below poverty line, says a Planning Commission report. This is higher than several major states such as Jammu & Kashmir (13.2 per cent), Kerala (19.7 per cent), Punjab (20.9 per cent), Himachal Pradesh (22.9 per cent), Haryana (24.1 per cent), Tamil Nadu (28.9 per cent) and Andhra Pradesh (29.9 per cent). The report was submitted to the Commission by a group of experts, headed by Suresh D Tendulkar late last year. Ranked eighth among major states, the only consolation for Gujarat is, Maharashtra, its neighbour and one of the main economic competitors, has a much higher incidence of poverty, 38.1 per cent. Poverty line for Gujarat – monthly expenditure of Rs 501.58 per person in rural and Rs 659.18 in urban areas – is based on National Sample Survey (NSS) norms fixed in 2005-06, which includes ‘nutritional, educational and health outcomes’, to quote from the report. Gujarat’s poverty levels may just have come down since 1993-94, when it was 37.8 per cent, but at that time only five states had lower poverty levels than Gujarat’s – Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Jammu & Kashmir and Punjab. It suggests that the hype around development notwithstanding, Gujarat has slipped in all-India ranking in alleviating the lot of the poor. What is even more worrisome is, Gujarat has a much higher incidence of rural poverty (39.1 per cent) compared to other major states – Jammu & Kashmir (14.1 per cent), Kerala (20.2 per cent), Punjab (20.1 per cent), Haryana (24.8 per cent), Andhra Pradesh (32.2 per cent), Rajasthan (35.8 per cent), Assam (36.4 per cent), Tamil Nadu (37.8 per cent) and West Bengal (38.2 per cent). Incidence of rural poverty in Maharashtra, however, is much higher than Gujarat’s – 47.9 per cent. Senior expert Prof Indira Hirway says, “High incidence of poverty in rural Gujarat shows that the recent boost in agricultural production has failed to benefit the poorest of the poor, particularly farm labourers.” As for urban poverty, things appear a little rosier. In Gujarat, 20.1 per cent people are found to be below poverty line, which is higher than five major states, Himachal Pradesh (4.6 per cent), Jammu & Kashmir (10.4 per cent), Kerala (18.4 per cent), Punjab (18.7 per cent) and Tamil Nadu (19.7 per cent). This finding runs counter to a state government report,submitted to 13th Finance Commission, which said that Gujarat’s urban poor, deprived of basic facilities, are worse off than the rural poor. Source: epaper.timesofindia/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=TOINEW&BaseHref=TOIA%2F2010%2F02%2F16&PageLabel=8&EntityId=Ar00800&ViewMode=HTML&GZ=T
Posted on: Sat, 15 Jun 2013 17:16:27 +0000
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