Congress in damage control: Digvijay and Sibal criticize Planning Commission methodology

Amidst the rousing debate on the definition of poverty amongst politicians, Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh on Saturday questioned the way poverty is calculated in the country.

Joining Union Law and Justice Minister Kapil Sibal, who also criticized the Planning Commission's methodology of calculating poverty in Kolkata, Singh used the micro-blogging site Twitter to express his concerns about the calculation of the poverty line.

"I have always failed to understand the Planning Commission criteria for fixing poverty line. It is too abstract, can't be same for all areas" Singh tweeted this morning.

Singh followed his remark up by another tweet that suggested that certain criteria be laid down to define who is poor in the country.

"First indicator of Poverty is Malnourishment and Anaemia in the Family which is easily measurable. Can't we have that as a criteria?" Singh said on Twitter.

Yesterday, Kapil Sibal had also conveyed that the process employed by the Planning Commission to calculate poverty was problematic.

"If the Planning Commission said those who live above Rs. 5000 a month are not at poverty line, obviously there is something wrong with the definition of poverty in this country. How can anybody live at Rs. 5000?" Sibal asked, at an address in Kolkata.

The Commission had stated earlier this week that for a family of five, the all-India poverty line with regard to consumption expenditure would amount to Rs. 4,080 per month in rural areas and Rs. 5,000 per month in urban areas.

According to the Tendulkar methodology, the Commission has calculated the national poverty line at Rs. 816 per capita per month in villages and Rs. 1000 per capita per month in cities.

These figures have been severely debated and have stirred up huge controversy between political parties. The controversy began with Congress MP and spokesperson Raj Babbar earlier saying a full meal would cost Rs. 12 in Mumbai followed soon by party MP Rasheed Masood who said it's Rs. 5 in Delhi. The opposition parties have strongly attacked both statements this week.