World | India
Poverty haunts 30% of Maharashtra's population - survey
Maharashtra may boast impressive economic credentials and attract the most investment proposals among all states but nearly 30 per cent of its 97 million people are wallowing in poverty.
- By Pamela Raghunath, Correspondent
- Published: 23:54 March 20, 2008
Mumbai: Maharashtra may boast impressive economic credentials and attract the most investment proposals among all states but nearly 30 per cent of its 97 million people are wallowing in poverty.
The Economic Survey of Maharashtra 2007-08 lists 31.7 million people, or 30.7 per cent of the total population, as living below the poverty line (BPL).
Going by the National Sample Survey held between July 2004 and June 2005, the latest estimates of poverty prepared by the Planning Commission have shown poverty levels declining from 36.9 per cent in 1993-94 to 30.7 per cent in 2004-05. However, in absolute number, the BPL population has grown by 1.2 million during the intervening period.
At the all-India level, the BPL population stands at 27.5 per cent.
Maharasthra comes after Uttar Pradesh, where the BPL segment constitutes 32.8 per cent.
Madhya Pradesh with 38.3 per cent, Bihar with 41.1 per cent and Orissa with 46.4 per cent lead the ignominious list. Most southern states have a markedly smaller percentage of people living in the BPL category, Kerala doing best with 15 per cent.
As per the target set by the Planning Commission, Maharashtra has to reduce the poverty ratio to 15 percent by the end of the 11th Five Year Plan.
To achieve this target, the state government needs to reformulate its anti-poverty strategy by identifying the exact number of BPL families and ensuring that the benefits of various anti-poverty programmes reach them on time.
The Economic Survey states in no uncertain terms that special attention is to be devoted towards urban poverty alleviation.
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