What is Below Poverty Line (BPL)?

Below Poverty Line (BPL) can be defined as an economic benchmark used in the identification of economically weaker people and households. BPL is set by the Government of India based on a threshold income. The households or individuals having an income below this threshold value are considered to be under the below poverty line.

Measuring BPL in India

 The poverty line solely depends on the per capita income in India rather than the level of prices. The poverty line is the minimum income required to purchase the basic goods and services that are essential to satisfy the basic human needs. The proportion of the population that is below this poverty line is called the poverty ratio or headcount ratio. Similar approaches are followed by most countries and international institutions for determining BPL. 

In India, the first official rural and urban poverty lines at the national level were introduced in 1979 by Y. K. Alagh Committee. Criteria for the measurement of BPL are different for the rural and urban areas. 

• Currently, according to the Tenth Five-Year Plan, the degree of deprivation is measured with the help of parameters with scores given from 0–4, with 13 parameters. 
• Families with 17 marks or less (formerly 15 marks or less) out of a maximum of 52 marks have been classified as BPL. 
• The poverty line is calculated every 5 years. According to the recent estimation based on inflation,  the threshold income should be more than Rs. 962 a month for urban areas and Rs 768 a month in rural areas i.e., above Rs. 32 a day in an urban area and above Rs. 26 a day in a rural area. 

Eleven Five Year Plans were launched to eradicate poverty from India. The list of these Five Year Plans that started in the year 1951 is given below:

• First Five Year Plan (1951- 1956): The plan focused mainly on agriculture and irrigation and aimed at achieving an all-round balanced development. 

• Second Five Year Plan (1956-1961): It focused on the growth of basic and heavy industries, expansion in employment opportunities, and an increase of 25 percent in the national income.

• Third Five Year Plan (1961-1966): The  Chinese aggression (1962), Indo-Pak war (1965), and the severest drought led to the complete failure of the third five-year plan. It was replaced by three annual plans that continued from 1966 to 1969. 

• Fourth Five Year Plan (1966-1974): It aimed at increasing national income by 5.5 percent, creating economic stability, reducing inequalities in income distribution, and achieving social justice with equality.

• Fifth Five Year Plan (1974-1979): This plan mainly focused on the removal of poverty (Garibi Hatao) and aimed in bringing larger sections of the poor masses above the poverty line. It also assured a minimum income of Rs. 40 per person per month calculated at 1972-73 prices. The plan was terminated in 1978 instead of (1979) when the Janata Government came to power.

• Sixth Five Year Plan (1980-1985): Removal of poverty was the main objective of the sixth five-year plan with a major focus on economic growth, elimination of unemployment, self-sufficiency in technology, and raising the lifestyles of the weaker sections of the society.

• Seventh Five Year Plan (1985-90): The Seventh Five Year Plan aimed in improving the living standards of the poor with a significant reduction in the incidence of poverty.  

• Eighth Five Year Plan (1992-97): This plan aimed at employment generation but later failed in achieving most of its targets.

• Ninth Five Year Plan (1997-2002): The ninth five-year plan focused on the areas of agriculture, employment, poverty, and infrastructure. 

• Tenth Five Year Plan (2002-2007): The tenth five-year plan aimed at the reduction of the poverty ratio from 26 percent to 21 percent by the year 2007 and also to help the children in completing five years of schooling by 2007. 

• Eleventh Five Year Plan (2007-2012): The eleventh five-year plan targets towards reducing poverty by 10 percentage points, generating 7 crore new employment opportunities, and ensuring electricity connection to all villages.