Describing the Government’s present poverty fixation criteria as a cruel joke on the poor, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has said that poverty should not be measured in terms of only calories and money but the process should also adopt a more holistic approach by considering issues like basic needs of a person and one’s right to live with the dignity.
Kumar told mediapersons in Patna that it is not less than a joke on the poor if the Government considers that a person who earns more than Rs 33.33 per day in cities and Rs 27.20 per day in villages is not poor. He said that his Government had organised an international seminar in Patna in 2008 and conclusions of the seminar were sent to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the form of ‘Patna Declaration’. The ‘declaration’ had also emphasised on right to live with dignity as the major criteria for estimating poverty of a person.
The claims of Congress leaders Rashid Masood and Raj Babbar that one can have food in Jama Masjid area and Mumbai for Rs 5 and Rs 12 respectively are not less funny examples, he added. People can get free food in langars (community kitchens) in gurdwaras but whether one can claim that the food is available free in the country. He also rejected the UPA Government’s claim that the country’s poverty ratio has declined to 21.9 per cent in 2011-12 from 37.2 per cent in 2004-05. The number of poor is much more than this estimate in Bihar, he added.