Half of India’s poor are SC/STs: Study
‘They Score High On Landlessness, Illiteracy’
Scheduled castes and tribes constitute half of the total “poor, deprived households”, a pilot survey to identify the below poverty line population has found.
The survey found that SCs/STs were a mere 25% of the “non-poor households” who showed deprivation on some of the parameters—ranging from housing to illiteracy to homelessness and destitution. The findings reiterate the long-held hypothesis that Dalits are the mostunderprivileged sections of population and the easiest marker of poverty. The pilot survey is significant given that results have come from a representative sample of 166 villages across 22 states. It will form the basis of a fullfledged survey to be conducted soon to identify the poor.
Vivek Kumar, a JNU sociologist, said the findings proved that caste and class identities in the country overlapped and the social identity of Dalits led to cumulative deprivation cutting across parameters for identification of poor. “Economic deprivation depends on social identity,” he said.
That 22% of the population (SC/ST) form half of the country’s rural poor is in line with known facts about poverty statistics but it is startling that the theory continues to hold good. After the pilot survey, the anticipated household exercise to identify the poor—with the methodology refined by Planning Commission member Mihir Shah for the Union rural development ministry— would show where the final figures stand for the country.
While Dalits and tribals form the bulk of poor households, their share drops to 25% among the non-poor households with deprivation, a fact that underlines the relationship between SC/STs and economic status. The communities aren’t just poor but also score high on kuchcha housing, illiteracy among adults, homelessness, destitution, landlessness with agricultural wages as their main source of income.
The BPL survey is crucial because the identified families would form the target group of government’s subsidy-based welfare schemes. According to observers, the survey is key to the fate of Dalits as they form the bulk of beneficiaries of targeted welfare.
Special courts in Maha for SC/STs
Nagpur: Maharashtra CM Prithviraj Chavan has given his approval to a proposal by state social justice minister Shivajirao Moghe on setting up six special courts for speedy trial of cases under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. The new courts are likely to be in place in each of the six revenue division HQ in four months.
Source: The Times of India dt 15.04.2011
‘They Score High On Landlessness, Illiteracy’
Scheduled castes and tribes constitute half of the total “poor, deprived households”, a pilot survey to identify the below poverty line population has found.
The survey found that SCs/STs were a mere 25% of the “non-poor households” who showed deprivation on some of the parameters—ranging from housing to illiteracy to homelessness and destitution. The findings reiterate the long-held hypothesis that Dalits are the mostunderprivileged sections of population and the easiest marker of poverty. The pilot survey is significant given that results have come from a representative sample of 166 villages across 22 states. It will form the basis of a fullfledged survey to be conducted soon to identify the poor.
Vivek Kumar, a JNU sociologist, said the findings proved that caste and class identities in the country overlapped and the social identity of Dalits led to cumulative deprivation cutting across parameters for identification of poor. “Economic deprivation depends on social identity,” he said.
That 22% of the population (SC/ST) form half of the country’s rural poor is in line with known facts about poverty statistics but it is startling that the theory continues to hold good. After the pilot survey, the anticipated household exercise to identify the poor—with the methodology refined by Planning Commission member Mihir Shah for the Union rural development ministry— would show where the final figures stand for the country.
While Dalits and tribals form the bulk of poor households, their share drops to 25% among the non-poor households with deprivation, a fact that underlines the relationship between SC/STs and economic status. The communities aren’t just poor but also score high on kuchcha housing, illiteracy among adults, homelessness, destitution, landlessness with agricultural wages as their main source of income.
The BPL survey is crucial because the identified families would form the target group of government’s subsidy-based welfare schemes. According to observers, the survey is key to the fate of Dalits as they form the bulk of beneficiaries of targeted welfare.
Special courts in Maha for SC/STs
Nagpur: Maharashtra CM Prithviraj Chavan has given his approval to a proposal by state social justice minister Shivajirao Moghe on setting up six special courts for speedy trial of cases under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. The new courts are likely to be in place in each of the six revenue division HQ in four months.
Source: The Times of India dt 15.04.2011
No comments:
Post a Comment