As per the Central Government's Suvarna Jayanti Shahari Rojgar Yojana launched during former Prime Minister I K Gujral's tenure, state governments had directed the municipal corporations to assess and survey the number of families staying below the poverty line. The criteria for identifying such a family was that the individual's monthly income was not more than Rs 419.98.

However, the State Government has now revised the criteria and included that apart from this economic criteria, such persons who stay in a pucca house and have an LPG connection be included in the survey. Formerly even if the individual satisfied the economic parameter, if he/she was in possession of a colour television, LPG connection, pucca house, moped and refrigerator, they were automatically excluded from the survey.

Now the criteria includes individuals who have a monthly income of Rs 419.98 paise and who own a pucca house and an LPG connection to be identified as staying below the poverty line. A V Kalamkar, director, Urban Development Scheme, PMC told reporters that 1,200 employees had conducted a house-to-house survey of nearly four lakh families from July 1 to August 15 and identified 991 families who met the requirements.

The Nehru Rojgar Yojana had been scrapped following which the Gujral government introduced the Shahri Rojgaar Yojana where the beneficiaries who have been identified as staying below the poverty line would be imparted vocational training and given a loan of 50,000. However the loan entailed a 25 per cent contribution from the beneficiary. Even as the criteria has been revised on October 14, the PMC has washed its hands off regarding conducting the survey yet again and requested the State Government to depute a private agency to carry out the work.