The Congress in its manifesto for 2009 general elections promised to enact Right to Food law to provide 25 kg of rice or wheat at Rs.3 per kg every month to families living below poverty line (BPL). This has been delayed as the planning commission has asked the rural development ministry to carry out another survey of BPL families. The previous survey taken according to the Tendulkar committee’s methodology of calculating poverty based on a broad-based consumption basket that includes education and health has shown a higher estimate of poor which is around 36 percent. Existing methodology of calculating poverty is based on the calorific intake of individuals which shows the estimate of poor as 27.5 percent. This was calculated by the planning commission for 2005-06.
This fresh survey could take months and the criteria for identifying the poor is not yet finalized. This survey will is vital as it forms as the basis for the allocation required for the Right to Food Act. It is decided to include expenditure other than food such as medicines, clothes and education in the new criteria for determining BPL families but again the entire criteria is not yet finalized. Till the entire process is completed the poor will have to wait for their promise of Right to Food.
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