There are schemes like Annapurna for these segments, of doubtful delivery value. But let’s leave that aside. We are still left with around 200 million poor people and the recent Eleventh Plan (2007-12) document uses 2004-05 data to estimate there are 94 million working poor, around 69.5 million in rural India and 24.5 million in urban India. If we can get this 94 million to self-identify itself as poor, we will solve the subjectivity and non-transparency problem in identifying BPL. We do possess such a mechanism in NREG, in existence in 200 districts since February 2006. Let’s ignore the old debate about whether NREG was a sensible idea to start with, opportunity costs of resources, non-creation of productive assets and corruption and leakage (documented by CAG). Through NREG, 27.8 million households (de facto individuals) have self-identified themselves as poor. However, this is really for 330 districts (130 districts were added in 2007-08). Since all districts will now be covered, this process of self-identification will therefore cover the worst of the poor in that segment of 94 million.

The rural development ministry prides itself on NREG being IT-savvy, through involvement of NIC and TCS (especially in Andhra). Since Indian IT/ITES companies have been providing software services to the rest of the world, shouldn’t their services be used in India too? That NREG database can be used to issue biometric BPL cards, so that subsidies can be targeted to only the poor. This column has counted that as PM, Manmohan Singh has mentioned subsidy-targeting 22 times. Since flags typically fly from the admiral’s ship, how about the PMO accepting this as a true flagship programme?

... contd.