RTI helps in including name in BPL (Below Poverty Line) list

RTI helps in including name in BPL (Below Poverty Line) list[1]

Even after 60 years of independence India still has the world's largest number of poor people living in a single country. Of its nearly 1 billion inhabitants, an estimated 260.3 million are below the poverty line. More than 75% of India’s poor live in villages. Governments have instituted several welfare schemes for the benefit of the impoverished and through periodic surveys, identify families that deserve assistance under such schemes. Poverty is measured by calculating the monetary equivalent of basic commodities like food grains consumed by a family to stay alive and healthy. The criteria is based on 13 parameters such as ownership (or lack of it) of land, household assets and access to non-food items like education and health care. A national poverty line has been calculated on the basis of a statistical survey conducted in all states. Any person consuming commodities and services worth Rs. Rs 327.56 per month or less, in rural areas and Rs. 454.11 per month or less, in urban areas is identified as a person living below the poverty line.[2] States have fixed their own BPL benchmarks using similar criteria. The last survey was conducted in all states from 2002. There are many complaints about truly deserving people being left out of the list while some of their wealthier counterparts find mention on it. Politics plays a big role in deciding who gets on the list and who does not. RTI can be used to get the truly poor their rightful entitlements as shown in this story.

Shankar Satnami is an unlettered, landless agricultural labourer who lives in Rajpur Kesri village in Bilaspur district of Chhattisgarh. Shankar’s name was included in the BPL list prepared during the 1990s. However, in 2002 when the new BPL list was drawn up, Shankar was shocked to see that his name was missing from the list. He was even more surprised to find that a relative of the local Patwari had made it to the new list even though he was financially well off. Shankar rushed to the village Sarpanch and the Panchayat Secretary to find out why his name had been left out. They advised him to use the Right to Information Act.

Shankar filed an information request with the Takhatpur Janpad Panchayat seeking the following information:

“1. What are the criteria for including the names of the poor in the BPL list?

2. What was the basis for the points awarded to me during the survey?”

After Shankar received the information from the Janpad Panchayat, he learnt that he had been given 12 points based on the BPL survey that had been conducted in his block. This indicated that he fulfilled almost all criteria for being included in the list. Nevertheless his name had been left out. Armed with this information Shankar then approached the office of the Janpad Panchayat demanding to know why his name did not figure on the BPL list even though he fulfilled the criteria. The officers responsible for drawing up the BPL list in the Janpad Panchayat office had no answers. It was clear that his name had been deliberately omitted to include the names of other more influential people. The Janpad Panchayat finally agreed to include Shankar’s name in the list as they had no legitimate reason for denying him his entitlement.

With the inclusion of his name on the BPL list Shankar has once again become eligible for receiving assistance under various welfare schemes meant for the poor.

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[1] Courtesy: Shri Prateek Pandey, Convenor Chhattisgarh Nagarik Pahel, Raipur, 2007.

[2] Reply of the Government of India to a question raised in the Lok Sabha ib 2005: http://164.100.24.208/lsq14/quest.asp?qref=10770 as on 25 September, 2007.