BPL numbers in Orissa nearer to 84 pc: Study

In its recently submitted report,the Expert Group has said that the percentage of rural population that is poor and not able to satisfy the minimum required calorie needs or consume the minimum cereal required for healthy living is far greater than the present cut-off line of 28.3 per cent for the country and 47 per cent for Orissa. The committee recommended that the percentage of people entitled to BPL status should be drastically revised to at least 50 per cent in the country,which means a corresponding to a calories intake of 2.10 kilo calories a day as well as on a minimum cereal consumption of 12.25 kg per month. Incidentally,2.10 kilo calories were considered minimum for a healthy person living in urban areas in 1973-74.

Quoting the report,an official of the state’s Panchayatiraj department said the national jump form 28.3 to 50 per cent may appear significant,but in reality it may not be so. According to the monthly bulletin of the food ministry,there are more than 10.5 crore BPL/Antoday Anna Yojana cards in the country which would account for roughly 53 crore population,a figure which would be very close to what the Group has recommended.