Poverty debate: 'Govt. making fun of common people', says Kejriwal

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday lashed out at the Congress-led UPA Government following the ongoing debate over price of meals and poverty, saying the Centre is making fun of the common people.

"It's extremely unfortunate. The government is making fun of the common people. Where can you get food for Rs. five in this country?

Congress General Secretary Digvijay Singh today joined Union Law and Justice Minister Kapil Sibal in questioning the way poverty is calculated in India.

"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.

"First indicator of poverty is malnourishment and anaemia in the family which is easily measurable. Can't we have that as a criteria?" he said in another tweet.

Digvijay Singh's statements come a day after Sibal challenged the Planning Commission's method of calculating poverty, saying a family of five cannot live on Rs. 5000 a month

The controversy began with Congress spokesperson Raj Babbar earlier saying that l meal would cost Rs. 12 in Mumbai. He was later joined by fellow MP Rasheed Masood who said its Rs. 5 in Delhi.

Both the leaders later withdrew their remarks and apologised after media reports termed them as outrageous.

The Planning Commission had earlier on Tuesday said poverty ratio in the country had declined to 21.9 percent in 2011-12 from 37.2 percent in 2004-05 on account of increase in per capita consumption.

Using the Tendulkar methodology, the commission estimated the national poverty line for rural areas at Rs 816 per capita per month and for urban areas at Rs 1,000 per capita per month for 2011-12.

This would mean that the people whose daily consumption of goods and services exceed Rs 33.33 in cities and Rs 27.20 in villages are not poor.