Aktivister: Prøv at leve for det beløb selv
Indian activists have dared (udfordret) the head of the country’s planning body to live on half a dollar a day (2-3 DKR) to test his claim that it is an adequate sum to survive, BBC online reports Friday.
Last week the Planning Commission said the amount is “adequate” for a villager to spend on food, education and health.
But prominent campaigners Aruna Roy and Harsh Mander asked the panel chief, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, and members to either withdraw the figure or resign.
Officially, 37 per cent of India’s 1,21 billion people live below the poverty line. But there are various estimates of the exact number of poor in India and one suggests the true figure could be as high as 77 per cent.
The Planning Commission recently told India’s Supreme Court that an individual income of 25 rupees (52 cents) a day would help provide for adequate “private expenditure on food, education and health” in the villages. In the cities individual earnings of 32 rupees a day (65 cents) were “adequate”.
Critics say this amount is aimed at “artificially” reducing the number of poor. They argue that this will deprive millions of state benefits they would otherwise be entitled to.
A World Bank report in May said attempts by the Indian government to combat poverty were not working as aid programmes were beset by corruption, bad administration and under-payments, BBC notes.
