Plan panel's definition of poverty a joke, says BJP

Slamming the Planning Commission over its controversial definition of poverty, the BJP on Friday dubbed it a "conspiracy" hatched by the body and the Centre to deprive a large number of poor people of benefits under various welfare programmes.

"The poverty figure is a conspiracy by the Centre to exclude a large number of poor people from the ambit of BPL category. We will not accept it," State BJP President Prabhat Jha told PTI.

Jha termed as a "cruel joke" on the people of the country, the figures of Rs 32 per day income in urban areas and Rs 26 per day in rural areas as defining lines for poverty (the figures were revised downwards last week).

"In Madhya Pradesh, for example, the Central government has counted only 42 lakh BPL citizens whereas more than 76 lakh people are living below the poverty line in the state," he said.

"The plan panel is being used as a tool by the Centre to deprive BPL citizens from certain facilities they are getting at present under various welfare programmes. We will not tolerate it," the BJP leader said.

Jha warned that the BJP would launch a nationwide agitation to expose "the ulterior motive" of the Congress-led UPA government behind this move.

"The final contours of the protest against the recently announced figures for defining poverty will be put before the party's State Executive meeting to be held at Orchha on April 7 and 8," he said.

The panel last week released data to show that poverty had significantly declined between 2004-05 and 2009-10 after it lowered the income criteria for defining poor from the previous Rs 32 per day mark to Rs 29.