The number of families subsisting below the poverty line in cities across the state has risen from 12% a decade ago to between 18%-21%, despite claims of poverty alleviation and an 8% growth rate

Urban poverty levels in the state of Maharashtra have worsened, with more than one in five households, or 2.42 lakh families, now impoverished, according to a new government survey. The results of the comprehensive door-to-door survey belie the state government’s claim of having alleviated economic hardship.

The survey of 11 lakh families (a total of 57.8 lakh people) in 156 small towns was conducted over two years by National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) volunteers, college students, educated unemployed youth and staff from local civic bodies. They went door-to-door in Tier I and Tier II towns such as Ambernath, Badlapur, Alibaug, Baramati and Lonavala.

The survey found that 21% of urban households earn less than Rs 591 per person per month -- the figure set by the Indian government to identify below the poverty line (BPL) families. To be considered above the poverty line, families must have a joint monthly income of Rs 2,364 (that works out to Rs 591 per member per month).

“The 2.42 lakh families failed almost all the 54 socio-economic and educational indicators set by us to determine BPL families,” said a survey official.

The revenue divisions of Amravati, Nagpur and Aurangabad are particularly badly off: up to 30% of their populations are BPL families. Amravati, from where the current Indian president hails, is the most impoverished of the 156 municipal councils, with 30% of its urban poor living under the poverty line.

T C Benjamin, Principal Secretary, urban development department, estimated that the BPL figure for all urban and semi-urban townships in Maharashtra was still a huge 18%.

Urban planning officials have been concerned by the massive increase in urban poverty over the past decade, when the percentage of urban BPL families stood at 12%. Migration of the rural poor to cities has contributed to the rise in BPL families in urban areas, but such a significant rise needs more scientific examination, Benjamin stated.   

Sharat Bhaumick of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences and a member of the national technical committee on poverty alleviation cites two principal reasons for the increase in the numbers of urban poor in Maharashtra -- lack of employment and inadequate wages. This, despite a claimed 8% annual growth rate. Bhaumick says that the latest poverty figures are a sweeping indictment of the lack of development and urban planning in Maharashtra where over 42% of the population lives in cities.

The main purpose of the survey was to identify families that are most in need of economic assistance from the state. The results for 69 more councils and 21 corporations, except for Mumbai, will be out in the coming months. The metropolis requires many more surveyors than are currently available.

Source: www.timesnowtv.com, February 2, 2008