The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : No mention of rice at Rs. 2-a-kg in budget karnataka budget

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Friday, Jul 18, 2008
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No mention of rice at Rs. 2-a-kg in budget karnataka budget

Bageshree S.

It was one of the pre-election promises of the BJP

Bangalore: One of the biggest promises made in Bharatiya Janata Party’s manifesto before the Assembly elections — of increasing the income limit to determine Below Poverty Line category and providing rice at Rs. 2 for the poorest of poor — has been belied in the budget. Given the steep increase in the prices of essential commodities, thanks to the high inflation, much hope was pinned on these promises.

As per the present norms, only those with an annual income below Rs. 12,000 in rural areas and Rs. 17,000 in urban areas are categorised as BPL.

The BJP had promised to revise the BPL norms and peg it at Rs. 30,000 for “extremely poor” and Rs. 60,000 for “poor” if voted to power. It had emphasised the fact that the current norms were “outdated” and needed urgent revision. It further promised rice at Rs. 2 for the “extremely poor” category.

The budget, which dwells on the issue of food and civil supplies only cursorily, says that “the Government is committed to providing foodgrains at affordable prices” without stating the exact price and adds that “applications received last year for BPL cards would be processed expeditiously.”

On the other hand, it says that “concurrently, action will be taken to identify ineligible beneficiaries and bogus cards.”

Given the current trend of capping all subsidies as per the World Bank-stipulated norms, this could well translate to further bringing down the number of card-holders rather than bring more into the food security net. This decline in subsidies was also projected in the Medium-term Fiscal Plan for 2008-12. This is in contrast with the Arjun Gupta Sen Gupta Parliamentary Committee Report, which stated that more than 77 per cent of the population in India earns less than Rs. 30 a day.

While the Centre recognises only 31.29 lakh families as BPL and provides subsidy to them, the subsidy for the remaining called extra below poverty line (EBPL) has been the State’s responsibility, which adds up to Rs. 750 crore a year. In March this year, eight States, including Karnataka, sought additional foodgrains from the Centre for the EBPL population.

Interestingly, in the last year’s budget it had been said that the use of BPL cards would be limited to obtaining ration from fair price shops and for use as proof of income for availing oneself of other government schemes.

This was, however, not implemented as no alternative criteria were worked out. This year’s budget is silent on the issue.

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