Another 10 pc people will be lifted out of poverty: PM

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SME Times News Bureau | 24 Mar, 2010
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Tuesday promised a further cut of 10 percent in the number of people living below the poverty line as the government's policies designed at high but inclusive growth were yielding results.

Presiding over a meeting of the full Planning Commission in New Delhi, the prime minister said the government's policies were not only helping advanced states but also the poorer ones in the all-round goal of balanced growth.

"Our target for reducing poverty is to cut the percentage of the population below the poverty line by ten percentage points during the Plan period," he said.

"This implies a pace of poverty reduction more than twice that experienced in the past. Our success in ensuring inclusive growth depends critically on how well we do in this dimension of performance."

According to the prime minister, the official estimates of poverty were based on the national sample survey conducted in 2004-05 and that the next estimate would be based on the findings for the current fiscal.

"Estimates from this survey will be available by 2011. The question whether the high growth rate experienced in the period after 2004-05 has helped to reduce poverty can be answered confidently only after that," he said.

Yet, he added, even though there were no official statistics on poverty or even on employment after 2004-05, there were assessments based on the performance of the many schemes and programmes that were designed to drive financial inclusiveness.

Among key social sector programmes, run by the central government are the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, the largest centrally sponsored Scheme in the system with an annual outlay of around Rs40,000 crore.

Then there are others which seek to provide the poor, both living in rural and urban areas, with housing, sanitation, and other basic amenities.