Nitin Sethi, May 24, 2011, 04.12am IST
NEW DELHI: A spoon, 25 grams of dal, half a slice of bread, some washing powder and a torn piece of kurta, in total worth Rs 20. That is what three key National Advisory Council members -- Jean Dreze, Aruna Roy and Harsh Mander -- brought for the deputy chairman of Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia on Monday protesting against the Rs 20 per day person expenditure poverty line it has decided upon as a cut off.
The three NAC members led a group of about 60-70 noisy protestors carrying dozens of packets – all worth Rs 20 – and asked the Planning Commission members to survive a day in Delhi on the contents and shouted slogans waving placards mocking the poverty line
The presence of the trio, who have been locked in an argument against the 'fiscal prudence wallahs' in the government while pushing for an expansive food security bill, marked a scaling up of the battle between the two sides.
The three NAC members led a group of about 60-70 noisy protestors carrying dozens of packets – all worth Rs 20 – and asked the Planning Commission members to survive a day in Delhi on the contents and shouted slogans waving placards mocking the poverty line
The presence of the trio, who have been locked in an argument against the 'fiscal prudence wallahs' in the government while pushing for an expansive food security bill, marked a scaling up of the battle between the two sides.
They were leading the Right To Food campaigners protesting against how the Planning Commission defines poverty in the country.
The storm had been brewing since the Planning Commission impleaded itself in the case in the Supreme Court and claimed that an expenditure of Rs 20 per day on essentials for those living in urban areas and Rs 15 for those living in rural India was enough to keep them out of poverty and, therefore, out of government's social safety net.
The poverty line of Rs 20 works out from the Rs 578 per month per capita expenditure Planning Commission considers ample for a city dweller to survive on. This, as per their report, includes Rs 31 a month on rent and conveyance, Rs 18 a month on education, Rs 25 a month on medicines and Rs 36.5 a month on vegetables. Anyone spending a paisa more than this is officially not poor.
The three would have been well aware that their presence at the protest would mark a public declaration that they were not backing off from the confrontation with the Prime Minister's Office and the Plan panel, the latter being as determined that food subsidies have to be kept low despite the food security bill.
Earlier the apex court too had suggested to the government to relook at whether spending Rs 20 kept people well fed and above the poverty line.
When the protestors gathered at Yojna Bhawan they were whisked away by the police and later released. The Plan panel members refused to meet them but later in the evening the deputy chairman met 15 of them which included Jean Dreze.
Montek got his packet of goodies. The gathering handed over the Rs 20 packets -- including combs, a little dal, some rice grains, a band aid, and other essentials -- for his colleagues as well. But he stuck to his position, said one of the protestors who got to meet Singh. He instead suggested they meet Kaushik Basu, the chief economic advisor to the finance ministry. Basu has made a strong pitch for dismantling the grain distribution system and shift to cash transfers.
The meeting only produced one result – both sides came out sure that the other is not going to budge from its position anytime soon.
The storm had been brewing since the Planning Commission impleaded itself in the case in the Supreme Court and claimed that an expenditure of Rs 20 per day on essentials for those living in urban areas and Rs 15 for those living in rural India was enough to keep them out of poverty and, therefore, out of government's social safety net.
The poverty line of Rs 20 works out from the Rs 578 per month per capita expenditure Planning Commission considers ample for a city dweller to survive on. This, as per their report, includes Rs 31 a month on rent and conveyance, Rs 18 a month on education, Rs 25 a month on medicines and Rs 36.5 a month on vegetables. Anyone spending a paisa more than this is officially not poor.
The three would have been well aware that their presence at the protest would mark a public declaration that they were not backing off from the confrontation with the Prime Minister's Office and the Plan panel, the latter being as determined that food subsidies have to be kept low despite the food security bill.
Earlier the apex court too had suggested to the government to relook at whether spending Rs 20 kept people well fed and above the poverty line.
When the protestors gathered at Yojna Bhawan they were whisked away by the police and later released. The Plan panel members refused to meet them but later in the evening the deputy chairman met 15 of them which included Jean Dreze.
Montek got his packet of goodies. The gathering handed over the Rs 20 packets -- including combs, a little dal, some rice grains, a band aid, and other essentials -- for his colleagues as well. But he stuck to his position, said one of the protestors who got to meet Singh. He instead suggested they meet Kaushik Basu, the chief economic advisor to the finance ministry. Basu has made a strong pitch for dismantling the grain distribution system and shift to cash transfers.
The meeting only produced one result – both sides came out sure that the other is not going to budge from its position anytime soon.
