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1 Defining poverty
2 Poverty Line
3 Poverty line, population below
4 Causes of poverty
- 4.1 Expenditure on health
5 Decline in 2005-12
- 5.1 Number of poor reduced from 407 million to 269 million
  - 5.1.1 Defining extreme (Tendulkar) and moderate poverty (Rangarajan)
  - 5.1.2 A higher poverty line is drawn
6 Decline in 2005-16
- 6.1 2005-16: Over 270m in India moved out of poverty
  - 6.1.1 …according to the Multidimensional Poverty Index
7 Decline in poverty: 2010> 19
- 7.1 Details
8 Decline in 2011-12: I
9 Decline in 2011-12: II
10 2011-12: Rangarajan panel's estimate: III
- 10.1 II
11 Decline in 2018
- 11.1 South and east lead; central India worst off
12 2017-18
- 12.1 World Data Lab estimates
13 India vis-a-vis other countries

Defining poverty

Indian states with the highest/ lowest proportion of population below the poverty line, 2004-12. Source: The Times of India

National Food Security Act (NFSA) has revealed that there are more than 1.58 lakh 'non-deserving' BPL card holders, sponging off Rs 116 crore of govt money by availing wheat and rice at Rs 2 per kg, highly subsidized sugar and kerosene meant for the impoverished. Some facts regarding the poor distributive mechanism: See above; Graphic courtesy: The Times of India, April 20, 2016

Planning Commission's formula

Plan panel sticks to old formula to define poor

Mahendra Singh, TNN | Jul 24, 2013

The Times of India

NEW DELHI: People spending more than Rs 27.2 per day in villages and Rs 33.3 in cities are not poor, according to latest data released by the government.

The proportion of the poor has come down to 21.9% of the country's population in 2011-12 from 37.2% in 2004-05, a decline of 2.18 percentage points every year during seven years of UPA rule.

The absolute number of poor declined by nearly 137.4 million between 2004-05 and 2011-12 and by around 85 million between 2009-10 and 2011-12.

However, there are still 269.7 million poor — 217.2 million in villages and 53.1 million in cities — across the country as against 407.3 million in 2004-05.

The percentage of persons below the poverty line in 2011-12 has been estimated at 25.7% in rural areas and 13.7% in urban areas.

The sharp decline in poverty levels across the country is based on the benchmark of a fresh poverty line. But the timing and the methodology for estimating poverty is questionable as the fresh estimates are based on the Tendulkar methodology, which was junked by the Planning Commission last year after a huge public outcry.

The plan panel's earlier figures showed that poverty was declining by 1.5 percentage points from 37.2% to 29.8% between 2004-05 and 2009-10, but the data was disowned after it was criticized for pegging the poverty line too low at Rs 22.42 per person per day in rural areas and Rs 28.65 in urban areas.

After intervention from the UPA's top leadership, the government set up another committee headed by C Rangarajan to look at a methodology for determining poverty lines and estimating poverty.

The commission justified the release of the data using the old methodology saying the data from the National Sample Survey (NSS) 68th round (2011-12) was now available and the Rangarajan committee recommendation will only be available in mid-2014 so it had updated the poverty estimates for the year 2011-12 as per the methodology recommended by the Tendulkar committee.

After the controversy, a special survey was conducted by the NSSO to determine poverty, an exercise which taken up after a gap of five years.

The official argument is that whatever be the poverty line, there will be a decline in poverty in percentage terms.

The commission argued that it is important to note that although the declining trend is based on the Tendulkar poverty line, which is being reviewed and may be revised by the Rangarajan committee, an increase in the poverty line will not alter the fact of a decline. "While the absolute levels of poverty would be higher, the rate of decline would be similar," it said.

Definition of poverty in 2011-12

According to the [Planning] commission, in 2011-12 for rural areas, the national poverty line by using the Tendulkar methodology is estimated at Rs 816 per capita per month in villages and Rs 1,000 per capita per month in cities.

This would mean that the persons whose consumption of goods and services exceed Rs 33.33 in cities and Rs 27.20 per capita per day in villages are [below the poverty line].

The commission said that for a family of five, the all India poverty line in terms of consumption expenditure would amount of Rs 4,080 per month in rural areas and Rs 5,000 per month in urban areas. The poverty line however will vary from state to state.

2014: McKinsey’s definition

McKinsey pegs poverty line at 1,336 per month

Prabhakar Sinha | TNN

The Times of India

A Global consultancy firm pegged a new level for poverty or empowerment line — at Rs 1,336 per month per person as against the poverty line prescribed by the government at around Rs 870 per month per person.

McKinsey, in a report, said the empowerment line determines the level of consumption required for an individual to fulfill his/her basic need for food, energy, housing, drinking water, sanitation, health care, education and social security at a level sufficient to achieve a modest standard of living.

According to the report —From poverty to empowerment: India’s imperative for jobs, growth, and effective basic services — 56% of the population lacks the means to meet essential needs as consumption level falls below Rs 1,336 per person per month or almost Rs 6,700 per month for a family of five. This translates to 680 million people whose consumption levels across both rural and urban area of the country fall short of this mark.

SIGNS OF POVERTY

The Times of India 2013/08/10

Deprivation indicators for poverty survey

One-room kuchcha households No adult member (in the family)

Women-headed households without any [presumably male] adult

Households with disabled member and without any able adult

SC/ST

Households without literate adult

Landless households

Groups for automatic inclusion

Shelterless households

Destitutes

Manual scavengers

Primitive tribal groups

Legally released bonded labourers

Rural poverty

Poverty in rural households: Socio-economic census (2014?)

The Times of India, Jul 13 2015

Subodh Ghildiyal

Poverty in rural households; Graphic courtesy: The Times of India, Jul 13 2015

Census: 5.4cr homes deprived on this count

`Landless manual workers most prone to poverty'

Landlessness and dependence on manual casual labour for a livelihood are key deprivations facing rural families, socio-economic census figures suggest. This, experts say , means they are far more vulnerable to impoverishment than indicated by a plain reading of the census data.

The rural census mapped deprivation on the basis of seven indicators -households with kuchha house; without an adult in working age; headed by a woman and without an adult male in working age; with a disabled member and without an able-bodied adult; of SCSTs; without literate adults over 25 years; and land less engaged in manual labour.

While 48.5% of rural households are saddled with at least one deprivation indicator, the eye-opener is how much the other factors over lap with the worst of them landless households engaged in manual labour. The intersection of any of the six other handicaps with `landless-labour' makes it more acute than otherwise suggested by the observation that the household has “two deprivations“. Nearly 5.40 crore house holds are in the landless labourer category -dubbed by the rural development ministry as the “main running theme of deprivation“.

The more the number of parameters on which a household is deprived, the worse its extent of poverty . It has been found that nearly 30% have two deprivations, 13% have three, though mercifully , only 0.01% suffer from all seven handicaps. Explan panel member Mihir Shah said the correlation between poverty and landless labour was a worrying feature.

“That a very high number of deprived households are also landless doing casual manual labour is significant. Land being the most important asset in rural India, its absence with other deprivations means a household has no asset and is that much more vulnerable.“ He said small and marginal farmers are also getting pauperized and more engaged in manual labour.

2017 yardsticks

Subodh Ghildiyal, Rs 20k in a|cs to be rural poverty barometer , May 22, 2017: The Times of India

A gram panchayat's success in reducing poverty will be judged by the number of households with over Rs 20,000 in savings bank accounts or percentage of families with Aadhaarlinked bank accounts. Or, by the percentage of its households which have availed over Rs 20,000 as bank credit.

Interestingly, higher the number of households with bank loans for “diversified livelihood“, the better the village would be assessed on the scale of progress. It will also be a positive if greater number of families are in nonfarm jobs with skilled work, or are selling their products in markets. Another key indicator of positive change will be the number of families using compost as the primary source to fertilise crops.

Progress of a village will also be measured against the prevalence of malnutrition among children up to three years, percentage of children with full immunisation, number of girls completing secondary education and skilling courses.

These are among the parameters being considered by the rural development ministry to monitor its coming plan to create 50,000 poverty-free gram panchayats, its success to be measured against the “wellbeing of households“ of a village.

Around 20 criteria for development will be clubbed into three categories -infrastructure, social development and economic development.

A senior official said the scale to measure poverty-free panchayats -Mission Antyodaya -was being final ised. According to the plan in the works, the target 50,000 gram panchayats will be bunched together in clusters of 5,000, the idea being that development or economic activity best happens in a collection of villages, be it dairy de velopment or manufacturing or horticulture or tourism.

Sources said the gram panchayats will be selected on the basis of evidence that they have done “model work“ or have demonstrated a level of “social initiative“. Creation of poverty-free gram panchayats is a flagship plan mooted by the government, with the RD ministry in the process of drawing up the details of its implementation.

In a bid to understand the factors that aid development in rural areas, the ministry recently sent officials to study 50 villages across Jharkhand, Odisha, Bihar, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Kerala, which have made visible progress in overcoming poverty.

Also, an elaborate coordination mechanism for the scheme is being created.While it will be included in the list of schemes assessed by the PM and CMs in the Niti Aayog governing council, there will be state level coordination committees under the CMs.

Urban poverty

Bibek Debroy Committee: 2017

Dipak Dash, The Times of India, August 7, 2017

Identifying the urban poor, 2017; Dipak Dash, The Times of India, August 7, 2017

Own fridge, AC or car? No welfare schemes for you

About six in every 10 households in urban areas will be eligible for assessment for identifying whether they are entitled for government's social welfare schemes, according to the recommendation of a government panel.

Those having a four-room set or four-wheeler or an airconditioner will be automatically excluded from being eligible for social benefits in urban areas. Households owning all of three items -refrigerator, washing machine and a two-wheeler -will also be automatically excluded, the Bibek Debroy Committee for implementation of the Socio Economic Survey has recommended. The report also specifies who will be automatically included in the list of beneficiaries based on the parameters set for residential, occupational and social deprivation. Those who are houseless or have a house with polythene wall or roof, no income or households without adult male or headed by a child will be included.

According to the report, the rest of the households will be assessed to find whether they can also be included in the list of beneficiaries. “They will be ranked on the basis of an index score on a scale of zero to 12. The parameters will be residential, social and occupational deprivation,“ said an official. Earlier, the S R Hashim Committee had submitted its report on urban poor in December 2012, but the government never accepted it.

“Going by the recommen dation of Hashim panel, 41% households in urban areas could have been included for assessment to find whether they are eligible for getting benefits from government schemes. But the Debroy panel recommendations will make 59% households eligible for this assessment,“ said a source.The panel has said categorising of householdspopulation as BPL or above poverty line would be a misnomer.

Poverty Line

[ From the archives of the Times of India]

Tendulkar committee

Urban (for 2004-5): 446.68

Rural (for 2004-5): 578.8

Plan panel revised estimates (now withdrawn)

Urban (for 2009-10): 859.6

Rural (for 2009-10): 672.8

WORLD BANK Poverty

[ From the archives of the Times of India]

<$1.25 per day (PPP) or 648 per month (urban) & 429 (rural) as of 2005 Extreme poverty: <$1 per day (PPP) or 516 per month (urban) and 342 (rural) as of 2005

Angus Deaton on the Indian poverty line

The Times of India, Oct 13 2015

Partha Sinha & Srikant Tripathy

Eco Nobel winner strong critic of India's poverty line

Had a tiff with Panagariya on why Indian kids are shorter

Angus Deaton, the Scottish-American Princeton professor who won the Economics Nobel on Monday “for his analysis of consumption, poverty , and welfare“, has a strong India connect with several of his academic papers and articles focused on the country and based on data collected here. Deaton (69) has worked with Jean Dreze of Delhi School of Economics, Abhijit Banerjee of MIT and Jishnu Das of World Bank on areas like poverty , healthcare, nutrition, etc. Even his homepage on Princeton website lists `Poverty in the world and in India' as one of the Nobel winner's main areas of research. It's not only collaboration with Indians and on India, the Princeton professor even had a tiff with Arvind Panagariya, former Columbia University professor and now the deputy chief of Niti Aayog, about the reasons behind the shorter height of Indian children compared to the global average. Deaton is also a harsh critique of the measure of poverty line used by the Indian government that was a hot topic two years ago.

One of Deaton's leading works, along with MIT's Banerjee and Esther Duflo, and Das from World Bank, was based on a healthcare-related survey of tribal households in Udaipur, then one of the poorest districts in the country . In 2002 and 2003, Deaton and others worked on a survey-based project titled `Health Care Delivery in Rural Rajasthan'. Seva Mandir, an Udaipur-based NGO that works for integrated rural development in the district, was involved in the project as the local facilitator and coordinator.

According to Priyanka Singh, CEO, Seva Mandir, Deaton visited Udaipur twice and had gone to the villages to have first-hand experience of the situation there.“He was very sound on subjects of nutrition and health.During interactions, we found he could explain difficult things in a very simple way ,“ said Singh.

Deaton, Banerjee and others' survey of 100 hamlets in Udaupir threw up interesting results -like low level of immunization in rural areas, ab sence of government-sponso red healthcare facility, reliance on private healthcare even at a much higher cost, etc -some of which have strong relevance even today .

A few years ago, Deaton had an academic debate with Pana gariya on the reasons for shor ter height of Indian children The article by Deaton and others in the Economic and Po litical Weekly points out that Indian children are very short on average, compared to child ren living in other countries “Because height reflects early life health and net nutrition and because good early life he alth also helps brains to grow and capabilities to develop, wi despread growth faltering is a human development disaster Panagariya while acknowled ges these facts had argued in (another) article that Indian children are particularly short because they are genetically programmed to be so,“ the article had pointed out.

Deaton is also a strong critic of how India fixes its poverty line, the estimated minimum income required for basic necessities of life. “Indian poverty is measured using a series of household surveys, run by India's National Sample Survey. The results of these surveys have been subject to intense debate in recent years.There are also significant questions about the appropriateness of the poverty lines used by the Government of India. Finally , the Indian consumer price indexes used in the poverty calculations have also been questioned,“ the Nobel laureate wrote on his home page.

Poverty line, population below

1973- 2005: Percentage and Number of Poor Estimation

December 22, 2014: The Planning Commission

Year	Poverty Ratio (%)			Number of Poor (million)
	Rural	Urban	Total	Rural	Urban	Total
1973-74	56.4	49.0	54.9	261.3	60.0	321.3
1977-78	53.1	45.2	51.3	264.3	64.6	328.9
1983	45.6	40.8	44.5	252.0	70.9	322.9
1987-88	39.1	38.2	38.9	231.9	75.2	307.0
1993-94	50.1	31.8	45.3	328.6	74.5	403.7
1999-2000	27.1	23.6	26.1	193.2	67.0	260.2
2004-05¹(Uniform Reference Period)	28.3	25.7	27.5	220.9	80.8	301.7
2004-05²(Mixed Reference Period)	21.8	21.7	21.8	170.3	68.2	238.5

Footnotes:

1 - Comparable with 1993-94 Estimates;

2 - Comparable with 1999-2000 Estimates

1990-2016: below the international poverty line

See graphics:

Proportion of population below the international poverty line between 1990 and 2016

Reduction in the death of children under the age of 5, for every 1,000 live births, between 1990 and 2016

Proportion of population below the international poverty line between 1990 and 2016; The Times of India, September 13, 2017

Reduction in the death of children under the age of 5, for every 1,000 live births, between 1990 and 2016; The Times of India, September 13, 2017

1993-2005: Percentage, number of Poor Estimated by Tendulkar Method

(Poverty Estimates) by Expert Group by Tendulkar Method using Mixed Reference Period

December 22, 2014: The Planning Commission

	Poverty Ratio (%)			Number of Poor (million)
	Rural	Urban	Total	Rural	Urban	Total
I. Expert Group 2009 (Tendulkar Methodology)
1. 1993-94	50.1	31.8	45.3	328.60	74.50	403.70
2. 2004-05	41.8	25.7	37.2	326.30	80.80	407.10
3. 2009-10	33.8	20.9	29.8	278.21	76.47	354.68
4. 2011-12	25.7	13.7	21.9	216.50	52.80	269.30
II. Expert Group 1993 (Lakdawala Methodology)
1. 1993-94	37.3	32.4	36.0	244.0	76.3	320.4
2. 2004-05	28.3	25.7	27.5	220.9	80.8	301.7
Annual Average Decline from 1993-94 to 2011-12
	Poverty Ratio (% points)			Number of Poor (million)
	Rural	Urban	Total	Rural	Urban	Total
Annual Average Decline : 1993-94 to 2004-05 (% points per annum)	0.75	0.55	0.74	0.21	-0.57	-0.31
2004-05 from 1993-94 by Expert Group 1993	0.82	0.61	0.77	2.10	-0.41	1.70
2009-10 from 2004-05 by Expert Group 2009	1.60	0.96	1.48	9.62	0.87	10.48
Annual Average Decline : 2004-05 to 2011-12 (% points per annum)	2.32	1.69	2.18	15.69	4.00	19.69

2011-13: the enormity of the poverty that remains

Graphic courtesy: The Times of India

The Times of India, Jul 04 2015

MOST EXHAUSTIVE SOCIO-ECONOMIC SURVEY SHOWS COUNTRY FACES A GIGANTIC CHALLENGE

Half of rural India touched by poverty

India has a problem at hand and its magnitude is much higher than what was imagined or reported. That is the short and succinct message of the SocioEconomic and Caste Census (SECC) released on Friday . According to the census, 49% of rural households show signs of poverty . And 51% of households have `manual casual labour' as the source of income. Whichever way the figures are sliced and diced, the poverty data leaves no scope for assurance or optimism. Till now, every survey had been showing poverty as receding.

The survey has used seven indicators of deprivation: All definite pointers to subsistence-level existence and seri ous handicaps like `kuccha houses', landless households engaged in manual labour, female-headed households with no adult working male member, households without a working adult, and all SC ST households.

While there can be room for correction, experts are unanimous that this would not change the bleak picture significantly . For instance, they are unanimous that all those dependent on `manual casual labour' for livelihood -51.14% of households -are bound to be poor.

The dismal scenario is illustrated by another set of dire figures: 2.37 crore households live in one-room kuccha houses, constituting 13.25% of the 17.91 crore rural households. At the same time, 30% of rural households own no land and are engaged in manual labour. The overall poverty figures for the country will also take into account the urban household survey that is yet to be released. But they , whenever they are out, are unlikely to change the overall picture.

The degree of deprivation as evidenced by the rural survey poses an intractable challenge for the Modi government if it wants to draw up a consolidated list of the poor, known as `Below Poverty Line'. If the government goes by the new evidence, the BPL category would balloon beyond its fiscal capacity . Conversely , if it seeks to put a ceiling and depress the figures, it would attract the kind of controversy that had hit the UPA.

The last government-commissioned figure had put the poverty line at a much lower 30%. The divergence is possibly the reason why the rural development ministry has desisted from coming out with a poverty figure while releasing the data for SECC.

A possible way out for the Centre would be to keep various deprivation figures -like on housing, employment, destitution -separate and use them for better targeting of niche welfare and development programmes. The option of drawing up a fresh consolidated poverty list a la BPL may not be exercised.

SECC may be the fuel to partisan political fire. For Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who does not tire of accusing Congress of keeping the country trapped in under-development, it will serve as the catalyst to intensify his campaign. But the negative messaging has its limits and there is risk of the damning statistics getting identified with the government of the day , that is BJP.

2012 poverty: World Bank report

The Indian Express, June 28, 2016

Yue Li and Martin Rama

Using National Sample Survey (NSS) data from 2012

Where you live decides how ‘well’ you live

Whether a household is poor or not depends not only on its assets, education and skills but also, importantly, on where it lives. Consider a ‘typical’ Indian household, which has four members and where the adults have less than nine years of education. Assuming this household is also ‘typical’ in other respects, it would spend Rs 8,121 per month if it lived in urban Maharashtra, but only Rs 3,735 a month if it resided in rural Bihar. A part of this difference can be explained by the higher cost of living in urban Maharashtra. Nonetheless, a big part of it can be attributed to the real difference in consumption levels between the two locations. One may think of this difference in consumption levels — 117 per cent in this case — as the gain associated with living in a ‘good’ location.

It is, however, important to note that this clear distinction between urban and rural areas no longer exists in India. A decade ago, India’s cities and countryside were truly different. Nowadays, the difference between urban and rural areas is mostly a matter of degree. While cities are expanding beyond their municipal boundaries, many once-rural areas are becoming denser and acquiring more urban characteristics. Today, as cities move to people as much as people move to cities, India’s rural-urban divide is being replaced by a rural-urban gradation.

In a recent paper, we explored how this messy urbanisation affects the likelihood of a household being poor, and its living standards more generally. We used National Sample Survey (NSS) data from 2012 to compare patterns in living standards across four different types of locations along the rural-urban gradation, from small rural areas with a population of less than 5,000 to large urban areas with a population greater than one million. In all, we considered roughly 1,400 places spread across the 599 districts for which we have good data. With this more granular spatial perspective, we found that the ‘typical’ Indian household could consume Rs 13,554 per month in urban Gurgaon in Haryana, which has the highest consumption levels among all the 1,400 places considered. At the other extreme, a similar household in a small village in the Malkangiri district of Odisha would consume only Rs 2,928. Seen from this more detailed standpoint, the difference in consumption levels rises to 362 per cent.

Clearly, where a household lives matters. About half of the overall variation in consumption expenditure across places can be explained by differences in a household’s characteristics such as its ownership of assets, in its education and skills, and in its age composition — or how many working members there are in a household. But when we also take the household’s place of residence into account, nearly two thirds of this difference can be explained. This means that one third of the variation in per capita consumption in India is related, in one way or another, to the place where a household lives. The analysis yields other insights too. First, it has now become difficult to tell the difference between large rural areas and small urban areas. And, that on average, small urban areas and large rural areas can support similar consumption levels.

It’s not just where you live, near what you live matters too

It also appears that the ‘best’ places to live in India tend to be near each other. Clusters of such places are to be found in the northwest of India, along the western and southwestern coasts, and in India’s northeast, towards Bangladesh. Among them are the agglomerations surrounding Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Delhi, Jodhpur, Kolkata, Mumbai, Puducherry, South Goa and Thiruvananthapuram. Some of these clusters are huge. For example, the one around Delhi spreads across 60 districts, spanning seven of India’s northwestern states and Union Territories. Similarly, the cluster around Thiruvananthapuram spans 19 districts across the three southern states of Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Although generally, urban India tends to have higher consumption levels than rural areas, there are some surprises. Interestingly, it is not only large urban areas which display the highest gains in living standards. In fact, many of the best places to live and work are secondary towns, and some of them are still administratively rural. What makes these ‘good’ rural locations special is that they lie in the catchment area of some of the best locations in the country. Seen this way, what matters for a household is not just ‘where’ it lives, but also ‘near what’ it lives.

Some ‘good’ locations spread their prosperity more than others

However, all the ‘good’ locations do not spread their prosperity around them evenly. For instance, both Bengaluru and Delhi are among India’s top locations. Between them, Bengaluru enjoys a slightly higher gain in living standards than Delhi, arguably making it a better city to live and work in. But Delhi spreads its benefits more widely, doing substantially better than Bengaluru in the extent of its impact on surrounding areas. In Delhi’s case, the gain in living standards is still high up to 200 km away from the core of the city, while in Bengaluru it almost vanishes just 100 km from the city centre. We do not know for sure why this is so, but the issue certainly warrants further research. T‘e ‘least good’ places to live and work are concentrated in the centre of India, where the states of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Odisha meet. A number of such places can also be found in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, along the Ganga basin. Surprisingly, most of them do not fall in the rural parts of these states, but rather in small urban areas.

Tribal populations live in some of the most disadvantaged places

Last but not least, paying attention to the places where people live changes our interpretation of the key determinants of poverty. One of the most dramatic changes concerns our understanding of why some social groups are poorer than others. For instance, a tribal household consumes 23 per cent less than a household from the general category that is otherwise identical. But when the place of residence is taken into account, this gap falls to 13 per cent. In other words, a superficial analysis would suggest that poverty among tribals is related to their socio-economic characteristics. On the other hand, our spatial analysis suggests a key reason why tribal populations are poor is because they live in some of the most disadvantaged places in the country.

Causes of poverty

Expenditure on health

Rema Nagarajan, Health spending pushed 55m into poverty in a year: Study, June 13, 2018: The Times of India

‘38 Million Made Poor Just By Having To Buy Medicines’

About 55 million Indians were pushed into poverty in a single year because of having to fund their own healthcare and 38 million of them fell below the poverty line due to spending on medicines alone, a study by three experts from the Public Health Foundation of India has estimated. The study, published in the British Medical Journal, reveals that non-communicable diseases like cancer, heart diseases and diabetes account for the largest chunk of spending by households on health.

The study concluded that among non-communicable diseases, cancer had the highest probability of resulting in “catastrophic expenditure” for a household. Health expenditure is considered to be catastrophic if it constitutes 10% or more of overall consumption expenditure of a household. In the case of road traffic and non-road traffic injuries, it was found that catastrophic expenditure was higher among the poorest, with average stay in hospital beyond seven days.

Data from nationwide consumer expenditure surveys spanning two decades from 1993-94 up to 2011-12 and the ‘Social Consumption: Health’ survey done by the National Sample Survey Organisation in 2014 were analysed by the study authors including health economists Sakthivel Selvaraj and Habib Hasan Farooqui.

While the study looks at data up to 2011-12, it refers to measures taken by the government since then to reduce the expenditure burden on medicines and healthcare on households. It noted that though the Drug Price Control Order 2013 brought all essential drugs in the National List of Essential Medicines under price control, these constituted just 20% of the retail pharmacy market and that the sales volume of many of the drugs brought under price control has fallen.

Despite governments launching several health insurance schemes, a majority of the population continued to incur significant expenditure on medicines as hospitalisationbased treatment, which is what most insurance schemes cover, constitutes only one third of India’s morbidity burden, noted the study. It added that frequency of hospitalisation was smaller than outpatient visits in general, especially for NCDs, which are chronic in nature requiring multiple consultations and long-term or lifelong medication and support.

With shrinking availability of free drugs in the government health system for outpatients and a sharper decline in their availability for inpatients, there was little incentive for patients to seek public healthcare, noted the study, adding that medicine-related expenditure for households remained high as most patients sought outpatient care in the more expensive private sector.

As for the government's promise to provide cheap medicines through Jan Aushadhi stores, though the target of opening over 3,000 stores has been met, they have been plagued with frequent stockouts and quality issues. Most Jan Aushadhi stores have barely 100-150 formulations instead of the promised 600-plus medicines and their numbers are too small compared to the 5.5 lakh plus pharmacies in India.

Decline in 2005-12

Number of poor reduced from 407 million to 269 million

Why no applause for 138 million exiting poverty?

Swaminathan S Anklesaria Aiyar

The Times of India 2013/07/28

When China reduced people in poverty by 220 million between 1978 and 2004, the world applauded this as the greatest poverty reduction in history. Amartya Sen, Joseph Stiglitz and all other poverty specialists cheered.

India has just reduced its number of poor from 407 million to 269 million, a fall of 138 million in seven years between. This is faster than China’s poverty reduction rate at a comparable stage of development, though for a much shorter period. Are the China-cheerers hailing India for doing even better?

No, many who hailed China are today rubbishing the Indian achievement as meaningless or statistically fudged. This includes the left, many NGOs and some TV anchors. The double standard is startling.

The Tendulkar Committee determined India’s poverty definition. The Tendulkar poverty line in 2011-12 came to Rs 4,000 per rural and Rs 5,000 per urban family of five. Critics say this is ridiculously low. But it is roughly equal to the World Bank’s well-established poverty line of $1.25 per day in Purchasing Power Parity terms (which translates into around 50 cents/day in current dollars). This is used by over 100 countries, by the United Nations and many other international agencies. When the whole world uses this standard, why call it statistical fudge?

When China claimed to have lifted 220 million people out of poverty, guess what its poverty line was? Just $85 per year, or $0.24 per day! Whatever statistical adjustments you make for comparability, it was far lower than today’s Tendulkar line. Did today’s critics of the Tendulkar line castigate China for fudging? No, they sang China’s praises.

Defining extreme (Tendulkar) and moderate poverty (Rangarajan)

The World Bank actually has two lines — $1.25 denoting extreme poverty, and $2 denoting moderate poverty. India can also adopt two lines, the Tendulkar line for extreme poverty and a new Rangarajan line for moderate poverty, at around $2/day.

But this will in no way diminish the great achievement of slashing the number of those historically called poor — we can call them the “extreme poor”— by 138 million in seven years. Allowing for rising population in this period, the number saved from extreme poverty is even higher at 180 million.

Given our rising GDP and expectations, we can rename the Tendulkar line as our extreme poverty line. But to condemn it as statistical fudge is ridiculous. The $1.25 line is a world standard, even if it is below the cynics’ line. Indian critics may not accept it, but the world will.

A higher poverty line is drawn

There is, of course, the separate issue of who should be entitled to various government subsidies, including food subsidies. Economists talk of targeting subsidies at those below the Tendulkar line. But for politicians, the aim of subsidies is to win votes. And clearly you win more votes by extending subsidies to two-thirds of the population, rather than the poorest one-third.

This spread of subsidies to those above the extreme poverty line was once called “leakages to the non-poor.” But it is considered good politics even if it is bad economics. This explains why the government chose to cover 67% of the population in the Food Security Bill, even though the poverty ratio at the time was 30%.

However, critics quickly exposed this as a double standard. They asked, if your Food Security Bill views two-thirds of the people as needy, how could you have a poverty line saying only one third are poor? The government found it difficult to say this was good politics even if it was bad economics. Instead, it appointed the Rangarajan Committee to devise a higher poverty line. This line will almost certainly be around the moderate poverty line ($ 2/day in PPP terms) of the World Bank.

Many critics and TV anchors will cheer at the prospect of freebies to two-thirds of the population. Yet here lie the seeds of fiscal disaster. India is poor because it has spent too much on ill-targeted subsidies, leaving too little for infrastructure and effective education that will raise incomes permanently. Total subsidies (mostly non-merit subsidies) exploded in the 1980s, reaching 14.5 % of GDP, almost as much as all central and state tax revenue. This ended in a fiscal and balance of payments crisis in 1991.

The risk of a new poverty line of $2/day is that it will create political demands for more freebies to twothird of the population. That will further erode limited funds for productive spending.

In theory we can limit subsidies to the poorest and cut out unworthy subsidies. In practice, the combined pressure of vote banks and TV anchors threatens to raise subsidies beyond all prudent limits. There lie the seeds of another 1991-style disaster.

Decline in 2005-16

2005-16: Over 270m in India moved out of poverty

‘Over 270m in India moved out of poverty in 10 years’, September 21, 2018: The Times of India

Over 270 million people in India moved out of poverty in the decade since 2005-06 and the poverty rate in the country nearly halved over the 10-year period, a promising sign that poverty is being tackled globally, according to latest estimates.

The 2018 global Multidimensional Poverty Index released here by the United Nations Development Programme and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative noted that in India, 271 million moved out of poverty between 2005/06 and 2015/16. The country’s poverty rate has nearly halved, falling from 55%to 28% over the 10-year period.

India is the first country for which progress over time has been estimated. “Although the level of poverty is staggering, so is the progress that can be made in tackling it” UNDP administrator Achim Steiner said. PTI

1.3bn live in poverty globally, says report

The 2018 global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) released here by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) said that about 1.3 billion people live in multidimensional poverty globally.

This is almost a quarter of the population of the 104 countries for which the 2018 MPI is calculated. Of these 1.3 billion, almost half — 46% — are thought to be living in severe poverty and are deprived in at least half of the dimensions covered in the MPI, it said.

While there is much that needs to be done to tackle poverty globally, there are “promising signs that such poverty can be, and is being, tackled”.

“The Multidimensional Poverty Index gives insights that are vital for understanding the many ways in which people experience poverty, and it provides a new perspective on the scale and nature of global poverty while reminding us that eliminating it in all its forms is far from impossible,” UNDP administrator Achim Steiner said.

Although similar comparisons over time have not yet been calculated for other countries, the latest information from UNDP’s Human Development Index shows significant development progress in all regions, including many sub-Saharan African countries.

Between 2006 and 2017, life expectancy increased over seven years in sub-Saharan Africa and by almost four years in South Asia, and enrolment rates in primary education are up to 100%.

This bodes well for improvements in multidimensional poverty.

The new figures show that in 104 primarily low- and middle-income countries, 662 million children are considered multidimensionally poor. In 35 countries, half of all children are poor. The MPI looks beyond income to understand how people experience poverty in multiple and simultaneous ways.

It identifies how people are being left behind across three key dimensions: health, education and living standards, lacking such things as clean water, sanitation, adequate nutrition or primary education. Those who are deprived in at least a third of the MPI’s components are defined as multidimensionally poor. AGENCIES

The estimates showed that half of all people living in poverty are younger than 18 years

…according to the Multidimensional Poverty Index

Is this the best news for India in over a decade?, September 22, 2018: The Times of India

2006> 2016:
i) Per cent reduction in poverty in the various states of India ;
ii) The largest number of people (absolute numbers) who rose above the poverty were from these states;
iii) The reduction in poverty in urban and rural areas;
From: Is this the best news for India in over a decade?, September 22, 2018: The Times of India

2006> 2016- Reduction in poverty, by caste and religion
From: Is this the best news for India in over a decade?, September 22, 2018: The Times of India

2006> 2016- How Indian states fared in the 10 aspects of measuring poverty; The best and worst states
From: Is this the best news for India in over a decade?, September 22, 2018: The Times of India

India has made tremendous progress in pulling its people out of poverty. Over a 10-year period between 2005-06 and 2015-16, 271 million people moved out of poverty, with the country’s poverty rate nearly halving — falling from 55% to 28%. But there’s still a huge discrepancy between states. While Kerala has performed consistently well, some states like Bihar have struggled to better their lot. These are the findings of a UN report that takes a holistic view of poverty, factoring in education, health and standard of living to come up with an index of poverty.

WHAT IS THIS INDEX?

Like development, poverty is multidimensional — but traditional methods only look at income to compute poverty.

The Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) complements monetary measures of poverty by considering overlapping deprivations suffered by individuals at the same time.

The index identifies deprivations across the same three dimensions as the human development index (HDI) — health, education, standard of living — and shows the number of people who are multidimensionally poor.

Decline in poverty: 2010> 19

Details

273m Indians out of poverty in 10 yrs, India Saw World’s Biggest Cut In Number Of Multi-Dimensionally Poor During 2005-15: UN, July 18, 2020: The Times of India

India had the biggest reduction in the number of multi-dimensionally poor people estimated at 273 million during the 2005-15 period, a UN report has said.

The data, released by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI), showed that 65 of the 75 countries studied significantly reduced multidimensional poverty levels between 2000 and 2019.

Four countries — Armenia (2010–2015/2016), India (2005/2006–2015/2016), Nicaragua (2001–2011/2012) and North Macedonia (2005/2006–2011) — halved their global MPI (multidimensional poverty index) value and did so in 5.5–10.5 years. These countries show what is possible for countries with very different initial poverty levels. They account for roughly a fifth of the world’s population, mostly because of India, the report said. The multidimensional index is a measure that looks beyond income to include access to safe water, education, electricity, food, and six other indicators.

But the impact of Covid-19 may slow down efforts to reduce multidimensional poverty. The pandemic unfolded in the midst of this analysis. While data is not yet available to measure rise of global poverty after the pandemic, simulations based on different scenarios suggest that, if unaddressed, progress across 70 developing countries could be set back by 3–10 years, the report said.

“Covid-19 is having a profound impact on the development landscape. But this data — from before the pandemic — is a message of hope. Past success stories on how to tackle the many ways people experience poverty in their daily lives can show how to build back better and improve the lives of millions,” said Sabina Alkire, director of Ophi at the University of Oxford.

Among the 1.3 billion people still living in multidimensional poverty today, more than 80% are deprived in at least five of the ten indicators used to measure health, education and living standards in the global MPI. The data also reveals that the burden of multidimensional poverty disproportionately falls on children. Half of the 1.3 billion poor have not yet turned 18, while 107 million are 60 or older, the report said.

Children show higher rates of multidimensional poverty: half of multidimensionally poor people (644 million) are children under age 18. One in three children is poor compared with one in six adults, the report said.

Decline in 2011-12: I

Odisha, Bihar show biggest drop in percentage of poor

Mahendra Singh, TNN | Jul 24, 2013

The Times of India

Odisha and Bihar

Odisha and Bihar have registered the sharpest decline in poverty levels between 2004-05 and 2011-12, although the proportion of the poor in these states remains well above the national average.

Latest data released on Tuesday revealed that in Odisha, the proportion of people below the poverty line (BPL) in total population came down from 57.2% in 2004-05 to 32.6% in 2011-12, a decline of 24.6 percentage points.

In Bihar, which logged the fastest growth rate during the 11th five-year plan (2007-12), the share of BPL in total population was estimated at 33.7% in 2011-12, compared to 54.4% in 2004-05, a reduction by 20.7 percentage points.

All-India

At the all-India level, the share of the BPL population was estimated at 21.9%, which is almost 270 million. This means that roughly every fifth Indian lives below the poverty line. The government has set the bar low, defining anyone earning Rs 27.20 or less in rural areas as BPL, while those earning up to Rs 33.30 a day in urban areas are classified as poor, though these benchmarks vary from state to state.

Bimaru

Although things seem to looking up in the poor states, especially Bimaru, they still remain home to the maximum number of poor people in the country. While Uttar Pradesh has just under 30% of its population in the BPL group, the number adds up to almost 60 million. Bihar, despite the improvement, still has 35.8 million poor, and ranks second, followed by Madhya Pradesh where 23.4 million or 31.6% of the population is BPL.

Rajasthan

Among the Bimaru states, only Rajasthan has managed to do better than the national average with the share of BPL in total population estimated at 14.7% in 2011-12, compared to 34.4% in 2004-05. In fact, the state now is a better performer than Gujarat, famed for its rapid growth and good infrastructure. The state ruled by Narendra Modi had 16.6% people below the poverty line.

Rural India has seen faster improvement than urban centres

The other important trend coming from the latest poverty estimates, which have traditionally created controversy, is the fact that rural India has seen faster improvement than urban centres. The decline in poverty was steeper in rural areas as BPL population came down to 25.8% (2011-12) from 42% (2004-05), around 17 percentage points, as against around 12 percentage points in urban areas.

On an all-India basis, there were 217 million poor in rural areas and 53 million in urban areas in 2011-12, as against 326 million and 81 million, respectively, in 2004-05.

The final figures for 2011-12 are likely to be revised once a government-appointed committee under C Rangarajan submits its report on a new methodology for fixing the poverty line, but the Planning Commission in its press release pointed out that this would only change the numbers, not the declining trend.

Decline in 2011-12: II

This article contains many points given in the article above.

Poverty declines to 21.9% in 2011-12: Planning Commission

According to the commission, in 2011-12 for rural areas, the national poverty line by using the Tendulkar methodology is estimated at Rs 816 per capita per month in villages and Rs 1,000 per capita per month in cities.

PTI | Jul 23, 2013

The Times of India

NEW DELHI: Poverty ratio in the country has declined to 21.9% in 2011-12 from 37.2% in 2004-05 on account of increase in per capita consumption, Planning Commission said.

The poverty ratio in 2011-12

The percentage of persons below poverty line in 2011-12 has been estimated at 25.7% in rural areas, 13.7% in urban areas and 21.9% for the country as a whole, a commission's press statement said.

The percentage of persons below poverty line in 2004-05 was 41.8% in rural areas, 25.7% in cities and 37.2% in the country as a whole.

In actual terms, there were 26.93 crore people below poverty line in 2011-12 as compared to 40.71 crore in 2004-05.

Suresh Tendulkar committee’s methodology

This ratio for 2011-12 is based on the methodology suggested by Suresh Tendulkar committee which factors in money spent on health and education besides calorie intake to fix a poverty line.

The commission said the decline in poverty is mainly on account of rising real per capita consumption figures which is based on 68th round of National Sample Survey on household consumer expenditure in India in 2011-12.

Earlier, a committee was appointed under Prime Minister's economic advisory council chairman C Rangarajan to revisit the Tendulkar committee methodology for tabulating poverty.

The committee is expected to submit its report by mid 2014.

Best and worst states

State-wise, the commission said the poverty ratio was highest in Chhattisgarh at 39.93% followed by Jharkhand (36.96%), Manipur (36.89%), Arunachal Pradesh (34.67%) and Bihar (33.47%).

Among the union territories, the Dadra and Nagar Haveli was the highest, with 39.31% people living below poverty line followed by Chandigarh at 21.81%.

Goa has the least percentage of people living below poverty line at 5.09% followed by Kerala (7.05%), Himachal Pradesh (8.06%), Sikkim (8.19%), Punjab (8.26%) and Andhra Pradesh (9.20%).

2011-12: BPL population

The Times of India

2011-12: the number and percentage of population below the poverty line, Graphic courtesy: The Times of India

Mar 20 2015

There are two ways to measure poverty--relative and absolute. Poverty estimates in advanced economies are based on the calculation of relative poverty, with the average standard of living used as the reference point. People are counted as poor if they cannot maintain this level. In India, poverty is estimated at absolute level or the minimum money required for subsistence. The poverty line is defined as the minimum money required for maintaining a per capita caloric intake of 2,100 calories in an urban area and 2,400 calories in a rural area. These estimates are done by analysing monthly per capita expenditure baskets of NSSO surveys.By this methodology, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and Bihar have the highest proportion of BPL persons in the latest estimates.

2011-12: Rangarajan panel's estimate: III

3 out of 10 in India are poor: Rangarajan panel

PTI | Jul 6, 2014

The Rangarajan committee was set up in 2013 to review the Tendulkar committee methodology for estimating poverty and clear the ambiguity over the number of poor in the country.

NEW DELHI: A panel headed by former Prime Ministers economic advisory council chairman C Rangarajan has dismissed the Tendulkar committee report on estimating poverty and said that the number of poor in India was much higher in 2011-12 at 29.5 per cent of the population, which means that three out of 10 people are poor.

As per the report submitted by Rangarajan to planning minister Rao Inderjit Singh earlier, persons spending below Rs 47 a day in cities would be considered poor, much above the Rs 33-per-day mark suggested by the Suresh Tendulkar committee.

As per the Rangarajan panel estimates, poverty stood at 38.2 per cent in 2009-10 and slided to 29.5 per cent in 2011-12.

This is at variance with the Tendulkar methodology under which poverty was estimated at 29.8 per cent in 2009-10 and declined to 21.9 per cent in 2011-12.

The Planning Commission's estimates based on Tendulkar committee had drawn flak in September 2011, when in an affidavit to the Supreme Court it was stated that households with per capita consumption of more than Rs 33 in urban areas and Rs 27 in rural areas would not be treated as poor.

The Rangarajan committee was set up last year to review the Tendulkar committee methodology for estimating poverty and clear the ambiguity over the number of poor in the country. As per Rangarajan panel estimates, a person spending less than Rs 1,407 a month (Rs 47/day) would be considered poor in cities, as against the Tendulkar Committee's suggestion of Rs 1,000 a month (Rs 33/day).

In villages, those spending less than Rs 972 a month (Rs 32/day) would be considered poor. This is much higher than Rs 816 a month (Rs 27/day) recommended by Tendulkar Committee.

In absolute terms, the number of poor in India stood at 36.3 crore in 2011-12, down from 45.4 crore in 2009-10, as per the Rangarajan panel.

Tendulkar Committee, however, had suggested that the number of poor was 35.4 crore in 2009-10 and 26.9 crore in 2011-12.

II

New poverty line: Rs 32 per day in villages, Rs 47 in cities

Mahendra Kumar Singh New Delhi:

TNN

The Times of India Jul 07 2014

Rangarajan Panel Puts Number Of Poor At 363m

Those spending over Rs 32 a day in rural areas and Rs 47 in towns and cities should not be considered poor, an expert panel headed by former RBI governor C Rangarajan said in a report submitted to the BJP government last week.

The recommendation, which comes just ahead of the budget session of Parliament, is expected to generate fresh debate over the poverty measure as the committee's report has only raised the bar marginally . Based on the Suresh Tendulkar panel's recommendations in 2011 12, the poverty line had been fixed at Rs 27 in rural areas and Rs 33 in urban areas, levels at which getting two meals may be difficult.

The Rangarajan committee was tasked with revisiting the Tendulkar formula for estimation of poverty and identification of the poor after a massive public outcry erupted over the ab normally low poverty lines fixed by UPA government.

The panel's recommendation, however, results in an increase in the below poverty line population, estimated at 363 million in 2011-12, compared with the 270 million estimate based on the Tendulkar formula -a rise of 35%. This means 29.5% of InT dia's population lives below the poverty line as defined by the Rangarajan committee, as against 21.9% according to Tendulkar. For 2009-10, Rangarajan has estimated that the share of BPL group in total population was 38.2%, translating into a decline in poverty ratio by 8.7 percentage points over a twoyear period.

The real change is in urban areas where the BPL number is projected to have nearly doubled to 102.5 million based on Rangarajan's estimates, compared to 53 million based on the previous committee's recommendations. So, based on the new measure, in 2011-12, 26.4% of the people living in urban areas were BPL, compared to 35.1% in 2009-10.

In case of rural areas, the rise is of the order of 20% to 260.5 million, compared to around 217 million based on the Tendulkar formula. Rang arajan's estimates would put the BPL share of total population in rural areas at 30.9%, compared to 39.6% in 2009-10.

Documents accessed by TOI show that the Rangarajan panel has suggested to the government that those spending more than Rs 972 a month in rural areas and Rs 1,407 a month in urban areas in 2011-12 do not fall under the definition of poverty .

If calculated on a daily basis, this translates into a per capita expenditure of Rs 32 per day in rural areas and Rs 47 per day in urban areas in 2011-12.

Decline in 2018

South and east lead; central India worst off

2018: Poverty decline most in south and east India, and the least in central India.
From: April 24, 2019: The Times of India

See graphic :

2018: Poverty decline most in south and east India, and the least in central India.

2017-18

World Data Lab estimates

Surojit Gupta, New data may show big cut in no. of poor, January 27, 2019: The Times of India

2017-18: the extent by which poverty might have fallen in India
From: Surojit Gupta, New data may show big cut in no. of poor, January 27, 2019: The Times of India

Fresh Govt Numbers To Be Out In June

India may have reduced extreme poverty far more effectively than most of us are aware of. The last official data is eight years old. In 2011, 268 million were surviving on less than $1.90 a day, the World Bank measure for extreme poverty. The next round of data on household consumption is likely to come out in June, and it may well show a drastic drop in the number of poor.

India’s chief statistician Pravin Srivastava told TOI that data will be published in June. Poverty estimates are derived from household consumption data. According to the World Data Lab, which monitors global poverty using advanced statistical models, less than 50 million Indians may be living on less than $1.90 a day now.

“The soon-to-be-largest country in the world has been reducing extreme poverty fast and the world may have underestimated India’s achievements,” a report by thinktank Brookings said.

‘Poverty has declined in India since 2004-05’

India’s last household survey of 2017/18 (to be released in 2019) captures household consumption more comprehensively — it will include an adjustment for owner-occupied housing and measure other items in accordance with international practices,” a report by thinktank Brookings said.

Economists said rapid economic growth and the use of technology for social sector programmes have helped make a significant dent in extreme poverty in the country. “As such there has been a decline in poverty for quite some time. Since 2004-05 there is a sustained decline in extreme poverty,” said N R Bhanumurthy, professor at the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy.

India vis-a-vis other countries

8 Indian states poorer than Africa’s 26 poorest

Times of India

London: Eight Indian states, including Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, together account for more poor people than the 26 poorest African nations combined, a new ‘‘multidimensional’’ measure of global poverty has said.

The Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) was developed and applied by the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) with UNDP support and will feature in the forthcoming 20th anniversary edition of the UNDP Human Development Report due late October. The MPI, which supplants the Human Poverty Index, assesses a range of critical factors or ‘‘deprivations’’ at the household level: from education to health outcomes to assets and services.

An analysis by MPI creators reveals that there are more ‘MPI poor’ people in eight Indian states (42.1 crore in Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal) than in the 26 poorest African countries combined (41 crore).

In fact, according to the new measure that includes key services such as water, sanitation and electricity, half of the world’s poor live in South Asia (51% or 84.4 crore) and one quarter in Africa (28% or 45.8 crore).

Niger has the greatest intensity and incidence of poverty in any country, with 93% of its population classified as poor in MPI terms.

AGENCIES Deprivation Count 42 crore poor in Bihar, Jharkhand, UP, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Rajasthan and West Bengal compared to 41 crore in 26 of Africa’s poorest countries Half of world’s poor (48.4cr) live in south Asia, a quarter in Africa (45.8crore), says new Multi-dimensional Poverty Index Of 104 countries surveyed (5.2bn people in all), 1.7bn live in poverty

2017: the share of India, China in the world’s poor

NEW LINES, BUT INDIA STILL HOME TO BIGGEST CHUNK OF GLOBAL POOR, November 2, 2017: The Times of India

Poverty line, PPP$ per hour, India vis-à-vis China
From: NEW LINES, BUT INDIA STILL HOME TO BIGGEST CHUNK OF GLOBAL POOR, November 2, 2017: The Times of India

In November 2017, the World Bank has started reporting poverty rates for all countries using two new international poverty lines: a lower middle-income line, set at $3.20 per day, and an upper middle-income line, set at $5.50 per day. These are in addition to the main poverty line of $1.90 per day. The new lines are supposed to serve two purposes. One, they account for the fact that “achieving the same set of capabilities may need a different set of goods and services in different countries“ and, specifically, a costlier set in richer countries. Second, “they allow for cross-country comparisons and benchmarking both within and across developing regions“.Using the $1.90 line, the incidence of poverty in lower middle-income countries is 15.5%, as against 45.8% in low-income countries. However, using the $3.20 line, 46.7% of the population of lower middle-income countries is poor. Similarly, for upper middle-income countries, the proportion of the poor at $1.90 is just 2.3%, but at $ 5.50 it is 29.2%.

2016-18: India’s international position improves

June 27, 2018: The Times of India

Congo, India and Nigeria- No. of people living in extreme poverty, 2016-18
From: June 27, 2018: The Times of India

HIGHLIGHTS

India has finally shed the dubious distinction of being home to the largest number of poor, with Nigeria taking that unwanted position in May 2018

If present trends continue, India could drop to No. 3 later this year, with the Democratic Republic of the Congo taking the number 2 spot

In the time that it takes you to read this article, several Indians will have escaped the clutches of extreme poverty. In fact, about 44 Indians come out of extreme poverty every minute, one of the fastest rates of poverty reduction in the world. As a result, India has finally shed the dubious distinction of being home to the largest number of poor, with Nigeria taking that unwanted position in May 2018.

If present trends continue, India could drop to No. 3 later this year, with the Democratic Republic of the Congo taking the number 2 spot. Defining extreme poverty as living on less than $1.9 a day, a recent study published in a Brookings blog says that by 2022, less than 3% of Indians will be poor and extreme poverty could be eliminated altogether by 2030.

The study, published in the ‘Future Development’ blog of Brookings, says, “At the end of May 2018, our trajectories suggest that Nigeria had about 87 million people in extreme poverty, compared with India’s 73 million. What is more, extreme poverty in Nigeria is growing by six people every minute, while poverty in India continues to fall.”

However, the estimates of extreme poverty reduction may not match with Indian numbers because of differences in how poverty is measured. According to the World Bank, between 2004 and 2011 poverty declined in India from 38.9% of the population to 21.2% (2011 purchasing power parity at $1.9 per person per day).

Economists said the finding of the study supports the argument that rapid economic growth had helped make a dent in extreme poverty. “Basically it supports the growth story and the 1991 economic reforms that have helped reduce poverty,” said N R Bhanumurthy, professor at the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy. “Going ahead, the challenge is to meet the Sustainable Development Goals, which will help realise the study’s findings that India would be able to eliminate extreme poverty by 2030,” he said.

Bhanumurthy said the assumption that India would be able to eliminate extreme poverty by 2030 seems realistic given the country’s record in the past 10 years in reducing poverty and its ability to meet the Millennium Development Goals. “But to achieve that we must continue to grow at 7%-8% for the remaining period,” he said. The UN-sponsored Sustainable Development Goals aim to eliminate global poverty by 2030.

The benchmark projections of poverty by country imply a high speed of poverty reduction in South Asia, East Asia and the Pacific, fuelled by the high rates of income per capita growth in India, Indonesia, Bangladesh, the Philippines, China and Pakistan, the study says. It showed global income increases in the last decades have led to systematic decreases in poverty rates worldwide, with the experience in India and China having played the most important role when it comes to the overall number of persons escaping absolute poverty.

At the heart of the study is the World Poverty Clock. It takes into account household surveys and projections of economic growth from the IMF’s World Economic Outlook. These form the basic building blocks for poverty trajectories computed for 188 countries. The study said that Africa accounts for about two-thirds of the world’s extreme poor.

If current trends persist, they will account for nine-tenths by 2030. Fourteen out of 18 countries in the world where the number of extreme poor is rising are in Africa, it added. The study model estimated that on September 1, 2017, 647 million people lived in extreme poverty. “Every minute 70 people escape poverty (or 1.2 people per second). This is close to the Sustainable Development Goal target (92 people per minute, or 1.5 per second) and allows us to estimate that around 36 million people have escaped extreme poverty in the year 2016,” it added.

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-This is a collection of articles archived for the excellence of their content.<br/>
+This is a collection of articles archived for the excellence of their content.<br/>You can help by converting these articles into an encyclopaedia-style entry,<br />deleting portions of the kind normally not used in encyclopaedia entries.<br/>Please also fill in missing details; put categories, headings and sub-headings;<br/>and combine this with other articles on exactly the same subject.<br/>
-</div>
-|}
-[[Category:India |J ]]
+Readers will be able to edit existing articles and post new articles directly <br/>  on their online archival encyclopædia only after its formal launch.
-[[Category:Politics |J ]]
-[[Category:History |J ]]
-[[Category:Jammu & Kashmir|J ]]
-= Governor's/ President’s rule=
+See [[examples]] and a tutorial.</div>
-==1977- 2018==
+|}
-[http://www.dailypioneer.com/nation/if-jandk-comes-under-guv-rule-it-will-be-for-the-8th-time-in-4-decades.html   If J&K comes under Guv rule, it will be for the 8th time in 4 decades, 21 June 2018, PTI: ''The Pioneer'']
+[[Category:India|P]]
+[[Category: Development|P]]
+[[Category: Economy-Industry-Resources|P]]
+[[Category:Name|Alphabet]]
-Governor's rule was imposed for the first time on March 26, 1977 during the tenure of Governor L K Jha after state Congress -- then headed by Sayeed -- withdrew support to the minority Government of Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah of National Conference. Sheikh had come to the power following an accord with then prime minister Indira Gandhi in 1975.
+=Defining poverty=
-The Governor's rule lasted for 105 days and ended as the National Conference founder returned to power in the Assembly polls.
+[[File: poverty line ststes.png| Indian states with the highest/ lowest proportion of population below the poverty line, 2004-12.  Source: [http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com//Gallery.aspx?id=11_07_2014_013_037_002&type=P&artUrl=STATE-OF-THE-STATES-11072014013037&eid=31808 The Times of India ]|frame|500px]]
-Governor's rule was imposed for the second time in March 1986 after state Congress -- again headed by Sayeed -- withdrew support to the minority Government of Ghulam Mohammad Shah.
+[[File: National Food Security Act (NFSA), poor implementation.jpg|National Food Security Act (NFSA) has revealed that there are more than 1.58 lakh 'non-deserving' BPL card holders, sponging off Rs 116 crore of govt money by availing wheat and rice at Rs 2 per kg, highly subsidized sugar and kerosene meant for the impoverished. Some facts regarding the poor distributive mechanism: See above; Graphic courtesy: [http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Look-whos-living-below-the-poverty-line/articleshow/51905495.cms ''The Times of India''], April 20, 2016|frame|500px]]
-Shah became the Chief Minister after he led a rebellion with National Conference against his brother-in-law and then incumbent Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah in 1984.
+===Planning Commission's formula===
+'''Plan panel sticks to old formula to define poor'''
-This 246-day spell ended after Farooq Abdullah entered into an accord of his own with the then prime minister Rajiv Gandhi
+Mahendra Singh, TNN | Jul 24, 2013
-The third time Governor's rule was imposed in January 1990 when Farooq Abdullah resigned as the chief minister over the appointment of Jagmohan as the Governor following eruption of militancy in the state.
+[http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Plan-panel-sticks-to-old-formula-to-define-poor/articleshow/21287467.cms The Times of India]
-Sayeed was the Union Home Minister at that time and had brushed aside Farooq Abdullah's opposition to Jagmohan's appointment.  This was the longest spell of Governor's Rule -- six years and 264 days -- which ended in October 1996 after National Conference returned to power in Assembly elections held after a gap of nine-and-a-half years.
-Six years later,  Governor's rule had to be imposed in the state for the fourth time in October 2002 after caretaker Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah refused to continue in the office in the wake of his party's defeat in the assembly elections that year. The 2002 Assembly polls threw up a hung assembly with no party in a position to form a Government on its own.
+NEW DELHI: People spending more than Rs 27.2 per day in villages and Rs 33.3 in cities are not poor, according to latest data released by the government.
-Sayeed, whose regional PDP had won 16 seats, negotiated an alliance with the Congress and dozen-odd independents to form the Government, ending the 15-day direct Central rule on March 1, when Sayeed was sworn in as the Chief Minister.
+The proportion of the poor has come down to 21.9% of the country's population in 2011-12 from 37.2% in 2004-05, a decline of 2.18 percentage points every year during seven years of UPA rule.
-It was the shortest spell of Governor's rule -- 15 days -- as the PDP and Congress with support of 12 independents formed a government on November 2.
+The absolute number of poor declined by nearly 137.4 million between 2004-05 and 2011-12 and by around 85 million between 2009-10 and 2011-12.
-Mufti Sayeed's death was the cause for the next promulgation of the Governor's rule on January 8, 2016 after allies-- PDP and BJP-- deferred the Government formation process till the end of the four-day mourning period.
-Invoking Section 92 of the Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir, Vohra promulgated Governor's rule after approval by President Pranab Mukherjee.
+However, there are still 269.7 million poor — 217.2 million in villages and 53.1 million in cities — across the country as against 407.3 million in 2004-05.
-It was the seventh time Governor's rule was promulgated in the State since Independence, the first being in March 1977. The central rule came to an end after Mehbooba Mufti was sworn in as the Chief Minister on April 4, 2016.
+The percentage of persons below the poverty line in 2011-12 has been estimated at 25.7% in rural areas and 13.7% in urban areas.
+The sharp decline in poverty levels across the country is based on the benchmark of a fresh poverty line. But the timing and the methodology for estimating poverty is questionable as the fresh estimates are based on the Tendulkar methodology, which was junked by the Planning Commission last year after a huge public outcry.
-June 20, 2018: It was for the fourth time that the state will be placed under central rule during N N Vohra's tenure as Governor. Vohra, a former civil servant, became the Governor on June 25, 2008.
+The plan panel's earlier figures showed that poverty was declining by 1.5 percentage points from 37.2% to 29.8% between 2004-05 and 2009-10, but the data was disowned after it was criticized for pegging the poverty line too low at Rs 22.42 per person per day in rural areas and Rs 28.65 in urban areas.
-The BJP pulled out of its alliance with the PDP, saying it has become impossible to continue in the Government in view of the growing radicalism and terrorism in the state.
+After intervention from the UPA's top leadership, the government set up another committee headed by C Rangarajan to look at a methodology for determining poverty lines and estimating poverty.
-Ironically, late PDP chief Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, the father of incumbent Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti and her predecessor, was an important player in the political developments of the State that led to the imposition of central rule on the previous seven occasions.
+The commission justified the release of the data using the old methodology saying the data from the National Sample Survey (NSS) 68th round (2011-12) was now available and the Rangarajan committee recommendation will only be available in mid-2014 so it had updated the poverty estimates for the year 2011-12 as per the methodology recommended by the Tendulkar committee.
-=Late 1989- early 1990: A militant movement begins=
+After the controversy, a special survey was conducted by the NSSO to determine poverty, an exercise which taken up after a gap of five years.
-==The ideology behind the uprising==
-[http://www.greaterkashmir.com/news/front-page/hizb-leader-zakir-warns-hurriyat/249174.html   Hizb leader Zakir warns Hurriyat | IANS| May 13 2017| Greater Kashmir]
-[[File: India Today , September 1,2016 a.jpg| India Today , September 1,2016 |frame|500px]]
+The official argument is that whatever be the poverty line, there will be a decline in poverty in percentage terms.
-[In May 2017, Hizbul Mujahideen leader Zakir Musa] asserted that his outfit was clear in its motives of "fighting to impose a Shariat in Kashmir and not resolving the Kashmir issue by calling it a political struggle".
+The commission argued that it is important to note that although the declining trend is based on the Tendulkar poverty line, which is being reviewed and may be revised by the Rangarajan committee, an increase in the poverty line will not alter the fact of a decline. "While the absolute levels of poverty would be higher, the rate of decline would be similar," it said.
-Zakir [added]: "I am warning all those hypocrite Hurriyat leaders. They must not interfere in our Islamic struggle. If they do, we will cut their heads and hang them in Lal Chowk".
+===Definition of poverty in 2011-12===
+According to the [Planning] commission, in 2011-12 for rural areas, the national poverty line by using the Tendulkar methodology is estimated at Rs 816 per capita per month in villages and Rs 1,000 per capita per month in cities.
-"Those leaders should know that the struggle is for Islam, for Shariat," he was heard saying in [an] over five-minute audio clip. IANS [could] not confirm the authenticity of the audio clip.
+This would mean that the persons whose consumption of goods and services exceed Rs 33.33 in cities and Rs 27.20 per capita per day in villages are [below the poverty line].
+The commission said that for a family of five, the all India poverty line in terms of consumption expenditure would amount of Rs 4,080 per month in rural areas and Rs 5,000 per month in urban areas. The poverty line however will vary from state to state.
+===2014: McKinsey’s definition===
+''' McKinsey pegs poverty line at 1,336 per month '''
-Urging the people of Kashmir to unite against the Hurriyat's "hycocrisy", Zakir says: "We all should love our religion and we should realise that we are fighting for Islam. If the Hurriyat leaders think it is not so, then why have we been hearing the slogan 'Azaadi ka matlab kya? - La ilaha il Allah' [‘Pakistan say rishta kya? La ilaha il Allah']’ , why have they (Hurriyat groups) been using mosques in their politics?" [Additional input from Nadeem Nadu, Journalist, on whatsapp, 12 May 2017]
+Prabhakar Sinha | TNN
-The Hizbul Mujahideen has been waging a silent battle to upstage the Hurriyat Conference since the 2016 uprising. [In May 2017], the militant outfit also released a statement asking women protesters to not come on the roads to protest.
+[http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Client.asp?Daily=CAP&showST=true&login=default&pub=TOI&Enter=true&Skin=TOINEW The Times of India]
+A Global consultancy firm pegged a new level for poverty or empowerment line — at Rs 1,336 per month per person as against the poverty line prescribed by the government at around Rs 870 per month per person.
-[http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/burhan-wani-successor-zakir-bhat-targets-hurriyat-brass/articleshow/58651619.cms   M Saleem Pandit | Call it Islamic struggle or die: Hizbul Mujahideen to Hurriyat |TNN | May 13, 2017  | IndiaTimes/ ''The Times of India''] adds:
+McKinsey, in a report, said the empowerment line determines the level of consumption required for an individual to fulfill his/her basic need for food, energy, housing, drinking water, sanitation, health care, education and social security at a level sufficient to achieve a modest standard of living.
-Hizbul Mujahideen [leader] Zakir Bhat succeeded Burhan Wani after his killing in an encounter [in 2016].
+According to the report —From poverty to empowerment: India’s imperative for jobs, growth, and effective basic services — 56% of the population lacks the means to meet essential needs as consumption level falls below Rs 1,336 per person per month or almost Rs 6,700 per month for a family of five. This translates to 680 million people whose consumption levels across both rural and urban area of the country fall short of this mark.
-In a strongly worded audio message to separatists shared on social media, Zakir Bhat, aka Moosa, said: " Hum kufr ko chhod kar pehley aap ko latkayeingey. Lal Chowk mein inkey galey kateingey ! (Before we kill the disbelievers [kufr literally means ‘infidel’], we'll hang you... your heads will be chopped at Lal Chowk)."
+===SIGNS OF POVERTY===
+[http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=TOINEW&BaseHref=CAP/2013/08/10&PageLabel=21&EntityId=Ar02100&ViewMode=HTML The Times of India] 2013/08/10
-Zakir insisted that the 27-year-old armed movement in Kashmir was an Islamic struggle, not a political fight, and also warned separatists not to meddle in the setting up a caliphate in J&K along the lines of the rule established by [Daesh/ the] Islamic State.
+'''Deprivation indicators for poverty survey'''
-He warned them against using mosques and other Islamic symbols and slogans if they believed that Kashmir was a political struggle.
+One-room kuchcha households No adult member (in the family)
-Hurriyat's Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Yasin Malik stress on resolution of the Kashmir issue+ by seeking the right to "self-determination".
+Women-headed households without any [presumably male] adult
-The Mirwaiz, who is the custodian of the Jamia Masjid in Srinagar, demands the implementation of UN resolutions of 1947 regarding Kashmir every Friday.
+Households with disabled member and without any able adult
-Geelani, on the other hand, roots for Kashmir's accession to Pakistan. Addressing them, Zakir said, "You are our big problem... if you have to run this dirty politics, run it in your homes... if we have to implement the shariat, we have to implement it on ourselves."
+SC/ST
-Zakir, a native of violence-infested Tral in Pulwama district, was studying to be an engineer in a Chandigarh college before picking up arms in July 2016.
+Households without literate adult
-"I am not an ulema (sic), but scholars here are corrupt... fearful of crossing limits that they may be imprisoned. That is why we have to come forward," Zakir said, quoting a verse from the Quran. "They are actually political leaders and they can't be our leaders," Zakir said. "Our fight is purely for the sake of Islam, and we shall implement the shariat in Kashmir, insha-Allah," he said.
+Landless households
-==Influencing the mind: 1989-2017==
+''' Groups for automatic inclusion '''
-[[File: Influencing the mind.jpg| Schools of faith popular in the Valley of Kashmir, especially during 1989-2017 |frame|500px]]
-[http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/Article.aspx?eid=31808&articlexml=How-mosques-and-mobiles-are-radicalising-Kashmir-09072017010016    Aarti Singh | How mosques and mobiles are radicalising Kashmir | Jul 09 2017 : The Times of India (Delhi)]
+Shelterless households
-The Valley has been succumbing to a hardline Wahhabi Islam, which is displacing or co-opting the more syncretic schools
+Destitutes
-Last month, in a south Kashmir mosque, Mufti Shabir Ahmad Qasmi fiercely defended former Hizbul commander Zakir Musa's call for Islamic jihad. For the first time, a cleric, using his religious pedestal, was exhorting believers to support Kashmir's most wanted terrorist, who had recently aligned ideologically with al-Qaida. The mufti's speech was widely circulated on online messaging platforms in the Valley .
+Manual scavengers
-Kashmir's mosques have always been used for religio-political ends, and for separatism since 1989 when the militancy broke out. But the character of the mosque has changed dramatically in the last decade.
+Primitive tribal groups
-HanafiBarelvi Islam, the traditionally moderate school followed by the majority in Kashmir, is being replaced by the radical Ahl-e-Hadith, the local moniker for Saudi-imported Salafism or Wahhabism. Though many Hanafi clerics like Moulana Abdul Rashid Dawoodi are resisting their Wahhabi competitors, “the attendance in annual fairs of all major Sufi shrines has been decreasing,“ said Muzamil, a Sufi practitioner. Of the roughly six million Muslims in the Valley , the once-marginal Ahl-e-Hadith now has over a million followers, claimed its general secretary , Dr Abdul Latif.
+Legally released bonded labourers
-Arab-funded Wahhabism finds convergence with already-established conservative strains of Islam, such as the Deobandi and Jamat-e-Islami movements in Kashmir. The mufti who made a plea for Musa is a Deobandi from a Jamati household. Such religious intersections are not limited to fundamentalists. Last year, Sarjan Barkati, a selfproclaimed Sufi, earned epithets like `Pied Piper of Kashmir' and `Freedom Chacha' for mobilising people and glorifying the Hizbul commander Burhan Wani who had wanted to establish an Islamic Caliphate. These mutations from moderate to radical have been happening insidiously and manifested themselves in the mob that lynched deputy SP Ayub Pandith on Shab-e-Qadr.
+==Rural poverty==
+===Poverty in rural households: Socio-economic census (2014?)===
+[http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/Article.aspx?eid=31808&articlexml=Landless-manual-workers-most-prone-to-poverty-13072015001031 ''The Times of India''], Jul 13 2015
-The coalescing of all the schools of Sunni Islamic thought in Kashmir is result of a “common broad-based platform, Ittehaad-e-Millat, created to resolve differences“ not only among the puritanical groups but also with syncretic Barelvi outfits, said Jamat-i-Islami Amir chief Ghulam Mohammad Bhat. IeM was actively involved in organising protest rallies in favour of Wani last year. Way before Wani was killed, the signs of Wahhabised radicalisation had already begun to emerge. Maulana Mushtaq Ahmad Veeri, for example, was already popular in south Kashmir by 2015 for sermons in which he praised the IS and Caliph Al Baghdadi. “It was only a matter of time before the youth started waving IS flags while pelting stones, or Wani or Musa declared jihad for the Caliphate.Ironically, many moderate Kashmiri Muslims claim that IS has been created by the US and Israel to malign Muslims,“said a student of religion from Bijbehara.
+Subodh Ghildiyal
+[[File: poverty in rural households.jpg|Poverty in rural households; Graphic courtesy: [http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/Article.aspx?eid=31808&articlexml=Landless-manual-workers-most-prone-to-poverty-13072015001031 ''The Times of India''], Jul 13 2015|frame|500px]]
-Official sources said that there are over 7,500 mosques and seminaries in Kashmir, of which over 6,000 are Hanafi and around 200 are syncretic Sufi shrines.Ahl-e-Hadith, Deoband and Jamat put together have just over 1,000 mosques and charity based seminaries, of which Ahle-Hadith has the largest number. “ Ahl-eHadith mosques are popular for their modern furnishing and facilities,“ said Shahnawaz, a Barelvi follower in Anantnag, adding that the organisation also funds several orphanages, clinics and medical diagnostic centres.
+''' Census: 5.4cr homes deprived on this count '''
-Sources said Ahl-e-Hadith mosques and seminaries have doubled in the last 27 years. FCRA annual reports show that top donors to India among the Salafist Islam practising states are the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Although it is not clear who the top donor and recipient in J&K is, the state has received between 10 and 100 crores as foreign funds each year in the last decade.
+'' `Landless manual workers most prone to poverty' ''
-Ahl-e-Hadith played a role in the separatist movement as a part of the joint Hurriyat Conference until it was split in 2003. The organisation is known to share a relationship with Tehreek-ul-Mujahideen, which is closely associated with Lashkar-e-Taiba. The TuM is a part of the PoK-based United Jihad Council headed by Hizbul Mujahideen commander Syed Salahuddin, who in 2014, had declared support for al-Qaida's entry into Kashmir.
+Landlessness and dependence on manual casual labour for a livelihood are key deprivations facing rural families, socio-economic census figures suggest.
+This, experts say , means they are far more vulnerable to impoverishment than indicated by a plain reading of the census data.
-However, security officials believe that the influence of Wahhabi discourse through the Internet, social media and messaging platforms is far more dangerous than the mosques and literature.“Kashmir has around 2.8 million mobile internet users. Even if there is one Salafist preacher glorifying Burhan Wani or Zakir Musa and the clip is circulated over smartphones, it has a dangerous multiplying effect over a huge population,“ a senior police official said.
+The rural census mapped deprivation on the basis of seven indicators -households with kuchha house; without an adult in working age; headed by a woman and without an adult male in working age; with a disabled member and without an able-bodied adult; of SCSTs; without literate adults over 25 years; and land less engaged in manual labour.
-Mobile data usage, officials claim, is higher in Kashmir than other parts of the country because of lack of other sources of entertainment. Cinemas, bars and discotheques were shut in Kashmir in the early 1990s when militant groups issued diktats against all things “un-Islamic“.
+While 48.5% of rural households are saddled with at least one deprivation indicator, the eye-opener is how much the other factors over lap with the worst of them  landless households engaged in manual labour. The intersection of any of the six other handicaps with `landless-labour' makes it more acute than otherwise suggested by the observation that the household has “two deprivations“. Nearly 5.40 crore house holds are in the landless labourer category -dubbed by the rural development ministry as the “main running theme of deprivation“.
-=1990: The situation in April =
+The more the number of parameters on which a household is deprived, the worse its extent of poverty . It has been found that nearly 30% have two deprivations, 13% have three, though mercifully , only 0.01% suffer from all seven handicaps. Explan panel member Mihir Shah said the correlation between poverty and landless labour was a worrying feature.
-[http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/terrorism-takes-a-perilous-turn-in-kashmir/1/315063.html   Inderjit Badhwar, Kashmir: Perilous turn, April 30, 1990 | ''India Today'']
-''' The militant-fundamentalist sway over the Kashmir valley is complete, and the country's administrative control has been almost totally nullified. The situation is critical, and the time for soft options over. '''
+“That a very high number of deprived households are also landless doing casual manual labour is significant. Land being the most important asset in rural India, its absence with other deprivations means a household has no asset and is that much more vulnerable.“ He said small and marginal farmers are also getting pauperized and more engaged in manual labour.
+===2017 yardsticks===
+[http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/Article.aspx?eid=31808&articlexml=Rs-20k-in-acs-to-be-rural-poverty-22052017008042  Subodh Ghildiyal, Rs 20k in a|cs to be rural poverty barometer , May 22, 2017: The Times of India]
-'' Islam ki buniyad pe yeh mulk bana hai, ayega is mulk mein Islam ka dastoor, is mulk mein toofan ayega '' (The hurricane of Islam will blow through this land). -Refrain from an underground cassette
+A gram panchayat's success in reducing poverty will be judged by the number of households with over Rs 20,000 in savings bank accounts or percentage of families with Aadhaarlinked bank accounts. Or, by the percentage of its households which have availed over Rs 20,000 as bank credit.
-Kashmir is at war with India. It is a declared war with open moral, financial, and logistical support from Pakistan.
+Interestingly, higher the number of households with bank loans for “diversified livelihood“, the better the village would be assessed on the scale of progress. It will also be a positive if greater number of families are in nonfarm jobs with skilled work, or are selling their products in markets. Another key indicator of positive change will be the number of families using compost as the primary source to fertilise crops.
-Its first phase is over. And the brutal reality to which the country must awake is that the initial round has already been won by the militants. The enormity of the situation - with the latent challenges it poses for the continued existence of the rest of India as a secular state - does not seem to have dawned fully on New Delhi or even on the rest of the nation.
+Progress of a village will also be measured against the prevalence of malnutrition among children up to three years, percentage of children with full immunisation, number of girls completing secondary education and skilling courses.
-And notwithstanding the predictable knee-jerk cries of repression and "reign of terror'' against the state administration by liberal groups like the People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), the stark truth is that the Indian state is barely fighting back.
+These are among the parameters being considered by the rural development ministry to monitor its coming plan to create 50,000 poverty-free gram panchayats, its success to be measured against the “wellbeing of households“ of a village.
-The reins of the reign of terror are squarely in the hands of the separatists. Through kidnappings, bombings, assassinations, religious blandishments and press censorship - aided not least of all by the virtual abdication of governance by the Farooq Abdullah government during the last two years - the secessionists have virtually achieved the administrative and psychological severance of the valley from India. And their tentacles are now spreading into Doda, Kistwar, Rajauri and Poonch.
+Around 20 criteria for development will be clubbed into three categories -infrastructure, social development and economic development.
-In a cartographic and military sense, Kashmir remains with India. There's Ladakh in the north. Jammu in the south. And the Indian Army all along the actual line of control. But within this circumference now lies an island, a virulently non-Indian entity called Kashmir easily vulnerable to Pakistani manipulation.
+A senior official said the scale to measure poverty-free panchayats -Mission Antyodaya -was being final ised. According to the plan in the works, the target 50,000 gram panchayats will be bunched together in clusters of 5,000, the idea being that development or economic activity best happens in a collection of villages, be it dairy de velopment or manufacturing or horticulture or tourism.
-In Kashmir nobody, either out of fear or out of the total alienation that pervades the region, now talks for India or even a settlement with the Centre. That part is over. Done with. The movement has now arrived at a different crossroads. The debate is now whether they choose independence or Pakistan.
+Sources said the gram panchayats will be selected on the basis of evidence that they have done “model work“ or have demonstrated a level of “social initiative“. Creation of poverty-free gram panchayats is a flagship plan mooted by the government, with the RD ministry in the process of drawing up the details of its implementation.
-The 'Indian dogs', as it were, have mostly gone home. From Srinagar, Baramula, Tral, Pulwama, Anantnag, Kupward, Handwara, Bandipore. Businessmen, bankers, retired servicemen, hoteliers, tour operators. And Kashmiri pundits. Those who remain are men in uniform, or the Indian officials sitting as soft targets for terrorist hit lists in Srinagar's Raj Bhawan, or the mini winter secretariat. Lonely outposts of the Indian Union.
+In a bid to understand the factors that aid development in rural areas, the ministry recently sent officials to study 50 villages across Jharkhand, Odisha, Bihar, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Kerala, which have made visible progress in overcoming poverty.
-In what is surely one of the greatest refugee migrations in recent Indian history, some 90,000 Kashmiri pundits and other members of the minority community of a total of about 1,40,000 (4 per cent of the population) living in the valley have fled their homes leaving property worth crores behind. Rows of large houses in Munshibagh and Rawalpura are deserted.
+Also, an elaborate coordination mechanism for the scheme is being created.While it will be included in the list of schemes assessed by the PM and CMs in the Niti Aayog governing council, there will be state level coordination committees under the CMs.
-And now, the 30,000-odd Sikh shopkeepers and farmers of Tral, Sopore and Baramula have begun to cry for protection if they, too, are not to migrate. Some have already started moving out.
+==Urban poverty==
+===Bibek Debroy Committee: 2017===
+[http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/Article.aspx?eid=31808&articlexml=Own-fridge-AC-or-car-No-welfare-schemes-07082017009030  Dipak Dash, The Times of India], August 7, 2017
+[[File: Identifying the urban poor, 2017.jpg|Identifying the urban poor, 2017; [http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/Article.aspx?eid=31808&articlexml=Own-fridge-AC-or-car-No-welfare-schemes-07082017009030  Dipak Dash, The Times of India], August 7, 2017|frame|500px]]
-Securitymen keep vigil on the empty boulevard along Srinagar's Dal Lake, that was once the hub of the valley's throbbing tourist activity and traffic
+'''Own fridge, AC or car? No welfare schemes for you'''
-The few local papers that circulate under terrorist benevolence regularly attribute the migration to exaggerated Indian propaganda. The educated elite - yesterday's moderates, today's separatists - tell the eager ideologues of the puce just what they want to hear: that their movement is secular and the fleeing Hindus are just puppets of BJP propaganda. But to a family taking flight from its roots, property, value system and the familiarity of everyday existence, this is just so much nonsense.
+About six in every 10 households in urban areas will be eligible for assessment for identifying whether they are entitled for government's social welfare schemes, according to the recommendation of a government panel.
-Ask Mrs Dar, a doctor whose family has lived in downtown Srinagar for generations. She fled under fundamentalist threats a month ago to Jammu with her family. She and her sisters returned last fortnight - the men were too scared to accompany them - disguised under burkhas and fell at the feet of a government official begging help to recover their belongings from the house they hurriedly padlocked before fleeing.
+Those having a four-room set or four-wheeler or an airconditioner will be automatically excluded from being eligible for social benefits in urban areas. Households owning all of three items -refrigerator, washing machine and a two-wheeler -will also be automatically excluded, the Bibek Debroy Committee for implementation of the Socio Economic Survey has recommended. The report also specifies who will be automatically included in the list of beneficiaries based on the parameters set for residential, occupational and social deprivation. Those who are houseless or have a house with polythene wall or roof, no income or households without adult male or headed by a child will be included.
-Or a retired subedar major whose tenant, K. Kaul, is mercilessly gunned down on April 5 in Karan Nagar. The subedar receives a death threat shortly afterwards while he is at work. He does not even go back to his house. His daughters rent a truck within a few hours and load it with their belongings. They pick him up at an appointed place and drive straight to a refugee camp in Jammu.
+According to the report, the rest of the households will be assessed to find whether they can also be included in the list of beneficiaries. “They will be ranked on the basis of an index score on a scale of zero to 12. The parameters will be residential, social and occupational deprivation,“ said an official. Earlier, the S R Hashim Committee had submitted its report on urban poor in December 2012, but the government never accepted it.
-That same day Subedar Bhushan Lal bursts into the room of a commanding officer inside the cantonment in Srinagar, breaks down and cries like a baby. He was on leave to see his family in Big Behara, a 45-minute drive from Srinagar, but has been hounded out by gangs of roving militants.
+“Going by the recommen dation of Hashim panel, 41% households in urban areas could have been included for assessment to find whether they are eligible for getting benefits from government schemes. But the Debroy panel recommendations will make 59% households eligible for this assessment,“ said a source.The panel has said categorising of householdspopulation as BPL or above poverty line would be a misnomer.
-[[File: Scenes from a widely-circulated propaganda Videocassette showing a policeman greeting demonstrators.jpg| Scenes from a widely-circulated propaganda Videocassette showing a policeman greeting demonstrators |frame|500px]]
+=Poverty Line=
+[ ''From the archives of the Times of India'']
-He, too, begs for protection for his mother and two daughters whom he left behind in Bij Behara when he fled in the early hours of the morning. All he wants is that they be safely escorted out. They will never go back. It doesn't matter that he is leaving behind his life savings - a small orchard and a house he had managed to build.
+==Tendulkar committee==
+Urban (for 2004-5): 446.68
-They are not fleeing for nothing. Kashmir has seen upheavals in 1953 and in 1964. There was no mass migration. This was largely because the separatist forces had identifiable leaders who espoused secularism and there were few, if any, terrorist assassinations of innocents.
+Rural (for 2004-5): 578.8
-But today, the movement is dominated by the money provided by Pakistan and Saudi Arabia and the muscle power of the pro-Pakistan, fundamentalist Jamaat-i-Islami and its Hizbul Mujaheddin and Allah Tiger terror groups. The Jamaat is supposed to be strong in Baramula and Sopore and the "secular" Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front in Srinagar and Anantnag. But this is now merely semantics.
+'''Plan panel revised estimates (now withdrawn)'''
-For what once used to be a mass movement for the preservation of ethnic identity, of Kashmiriyat, of which Article 370 was supposed to be the symbolic guardian, has been consumed by a fundamentalist fury that gives the movement sustenance and spiritual guidance. The liberal spirit of sufism that had so infused the valley has now been exorcised.
+Urban (for 2009-10): 859.6
+Rural (for 2009-10): 672.8
-The movement is now largely conducted from the mosques from where thousands of loudspeakers preach jehad in a terrifying cacophony. And the fundamentalist cultural aggression has spread into everyday life. People must sport beards and wear the traditional Kashmiri garb. Wristwatches, as in Pakistan, must be worn on the right hand and the time set back a half-hour to correspond with that of Pakistan.
+==WORLD BANK Poverty==
+[ ''From the archives of the Times of India'']
-Cinema halls, beauty and video parlours, symbols of Indian "decadence" have remained closed for six months. Friday, not Sunday, is now observed as the day of rest. Indian newspapers are not circulated any more. In Kupwara, street dogs were affixed with discs around their necks with the inscription, "Indian dogs," and in Khak, nearby, effigies of Indian soldiers are hung from trees. In nearby Sopore, militants impose their own road tax on civilian vehicles.
+<$1.25 per day (PPP) or 648 per month (urban) & 429 (rural) as of 2005
+Extreme poverty: <$1 per day (PPP) or 516 per month (urban) and 342 (rural) as of 2005
-Almost everywhere in the valley, Indian institutions have been rendered redundant. In Srinagar, the Bank of Baroda has closed down, many of its officers have fled. The Canara Bank has virtually no staff to handle payments. And the militants have even knocked down the signboard of the State Bank of India near Srinagar's Batwara Chowk.
+==Angus Deaton on the Indian poverty line==
+[http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/Article.aspx?eid=31808&articlexml=Eco-Nobel-winner-strong-critic-of-Indias-poverty-13102015024026 ''The Times of India''], Oct 13 2015
-The banking system is virtually shut down. At the post offices tens of thousands of letters are piled up with no one to deliver them. Lawyers have boycotted the courts.
+Partha Sinha & Srikant Tripathy
-And Muslim government servants now in the winter capital of Jammu have threatened to strike unless moved back to Srinagar. Conversely, minority community officials are balking at having to go to Srinagar when the capital shifts there in summer.
+'''Eco Nobel winner strong critic of India's poverty line'''
-Agriculture continues, with paddy cultivation in full swing, but trade and commerce are at a standstill. The transport, sheet metal, machine tool and lumber industries have ceased to function.
+''Had a tiff with Panagariya on why Indian kids are shorter''
-[[File: We are fighting a holy war.jpg| This was the sentiment since the earliest m onths of the movement: '' We are fighting a holy war '' |frame|500px]]
-The hotels lie empty. The once proud Oberoi Palace has lost half its executive staff. And Mercury Travels Manager, Raj Awasthi, for the first time closed shop and left Srinagar, bags, baggage and all signalling the end of the tourist season even before it started. The house boats and shikaras bob aimlessly on the waters of the Dal and Nagin lakes like so much driftwood.
+Angus Deaton, the Scottish-American Princeton professor who won the Economics Nobel on Monday “for his analysis of consumption, poverty , and welfare“, has a strong India connect with several of his academic papers and articles focused on the country and based on data collected here. Deaton (69) has worked with Jean Dreze of Delhi School of Economics, Abhijit Banerjee of MIT and Jishnu Das of World Bank on areas like poverty , healthcare, nutrition, etc. Even his homepage on Princeton website lists `Poverty in the world and in India' as one of the Nobel winner's main areas of research.
+It's not only collaboration with Indians and on India, the Princeton professor even had a tiff with Arvind Panagariya, former Columbia University professor and now the deputy chief of Niti Aayog, about the reasons behind the shorter height of Indian children compared to the global average. Deaton is also a harsh critique of the measure of poverty line used by the Indian government that was a hot topic two years ago.
-Life is one curfew after another with periods of relaxation. When it is relaxed people mill furtively in the streets for a little bit of shopping. Cigarettes are scarce, meat rarely available, fresh vegetables a treat if one can find them. Even though the people have begun to feel the pinch, there's still enough to eat. Every September, the Kashmiri begins stocking up on rice and dried tomatoes and other provisions.
+One of Deaton's leading works, along with MIT's Banerjee and Esther Duflo, and Das from World Bank, was based on a healthcare-related survey of tribal households in Udaipur, then one of the poorest districts in the country . In 2002 and 2003, Deaton and others worked on a survey-based project titled `Health Care Delivery in Rural Rajasthan'. Seva Mandir, an Udaipur-based NGO that works for integrated rural development in the district, was involved in the project as the local facilitator and coordinator.
-These will last until May when there are fresh earnings through tourism, carpet weaving and casual labour. But even though this prospect looks bleak the people take heart from regularly beamed Pakistani propaganda that Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, who was recently shown supporting a thousand-year struggle to "liberate" Kashmir, will raise crores of rupees in relief money.
+According to Priyanka Singh, CEO, Seva Mandir, Deaton visited Udaipur twice and had gone to the villages to have first-hand experience of the situation there.“He was very sound on subjects of nutrition and health.During interactions, we found he could explain difficult things in a very simple way ,“ said Singh.
-During curfew relaxation, life appears superficially normal. But life is not normal even in the sanctuary of the army cantonment. Army schools have been closed down and parents given transfer certificates for their children: And the corps commander has declared downtown areas oat of bounds for army personnel and their families.
+Deaton, Banerjee and others' survey of 100 hamlets in Udaupir threw up interesting results -like low level of immunization in rural areas, ab sence of government-sponso red healthcare facility, reliance on private healthcare even at a much higher cost, etc -some of which have strong relevance even today .
-It is during curfew relaxation that the gunmen strike. The strategy is simple. Fire, or hurl bombs at security personnel, assassinate a soft target and duck. Force the security forces to return the fire in which innocent civilians are often killed, fuelling further anti-Indian sentiments.
+A few years ago, Deaton had an academic debate with Pana gariya on the reasons for shor ter height of Indian children The article by Deaton and others in the Economic and Po litical Weekly points out that Indian children are very short on average, compared to child ren living in other countries “Because height reflects early life health and net nutrition and because good early life he alth also helps brains to grow and capabilities to develop, wi despread growth faltering is a human development disaster Panagariya while acknowled ges these facts had argued in (another) article that Indian children are particularly short because they are genetically programmed to be so,“ the article had pointed out.
-[[File: Number and Nature of Casualties.jpg| Number and Nature of Casualties till mid-April 1990|frame|500px]]
+Deaton is also a strong critic of how India fixes its poverty line, the estimated minimum income required for basic necessities of life. “Indian poverty is measured using a series of household surveys, run by India's National Sample Survey. The results of these surveys have been subject to intense debate in recent years.There are also significant questions about the appropriateness of the poverty lines used by the Government of India. Finally , the Indian consumer price indexes used in the poverty calculations have also been questioned,“ the Nobel laureate wrote on his home page.
-According to government estimates, anywhere between 2,000 and 5,000 automatic weapons, mostly Chinese-made AK-47s, have been smuggled into the valley. The number of trained insurgents is about 600.
+= Poverty  line, population below=
+==1973- 2005: Percentage and Number of Poor Estimation==
+[http://planningcommission.nic.in/data/datatable/data_2312/DatabookDec2014%2099.pdf  December 22, 2014: ''The Planning Commission'']
-But with a network of sympathisers now spreading into virtually every village in the valley with sophisticated information cells', they spell a formidable problem for the roughly 20,000 men of the paramilitary and police forces deployed mostly in large towns.
-Among of, biggest challenges for the security forces is that the activists, both armed and unarmed, include PWD workers, irrigation engineers, schoolteachers, storeowners, doctors, lawyers, former MLAs and, most important, members of the Jammu & Kashmir Police who have been active in recruiting terrorists, arranging border crossings, and even driving their vehicles.
+{| border="1"
+| width="165" |
+'''Year'''
+| colspan="3" width="81" |
+'''Poverty Ratio (%)'''
+| colspan="3" |
+'''Number of Poor (million)'''
+|-
+| width="165" |
-Separatist targets are not just anybody found sympathetic to India but, increasingly, Indian Army installations. The subversive arsenal now includes antitank mines, rocket launchers and remote detonation devices. In several places army communication channels have been sabotaged. Civilian personnel working at army installations in Kupwara have received death threats.
+| width="25" |
+Rural
+|
+Urban
+|
+Total
+|
+Rural
+|
+Urban
+|
+Total
+|-
+| width="165" |
+-74
+| width="25" |
+.4
+|
+.0
+|
+.9
+|
+.3
+|
+.0
+|
+.3
+|-
+| width="165" |
+-78
+| width="25" |
+.1
+|
+.2
+|
+.3
+|
+.3
+|
+.6
+|
+.9
+|-
+| width="165" |
+| width="25" |
+.6
+|
+.8
+|
+.5
+|
+.0
+|
+.9
+|
+.9
+|-
+| width="165" |
+-88
+| width="25" |
+.1
+|
+.2
+|
+.9
+|
+.9
+|
+.2
+|
+.0
+|-
+| width="165" |
+-94
+| width="25" |
+.1
+|
+.8
+|
+.3
+|
+.6
+|
+.5
+|
+.7
+|-
+| width="165" |
+-2000
+| width="25" |
+.1
+|
+.6
+|
+.1
+|
+.2
+|
+.0
+|
+.2
+|-
+| width="165" |
+-05<sup>1</sup>(Uniform Reference Period)
+| width="25" |
+.3
+|
+.7
+|
+.5
+|
+.9
+|
+.8
+|
+.7
+|-
+| width="165" |
+-05<sup>2 </sup>(Mixed Reference Period)
+| width="25" |
+.8
+|
+.7
+|
+.8
+|
+.3
+|
+.2
+|
+.5
+|}
-How did the situation take such a precipitous turn for the worse? The answer is, it was not sudden. As the official record has shown, Governor Jagmohan was near prophetic in his warnings to Rajiv Gandhi during 1988-89 that the Farooq Abdullah government had collapsed even while it was in power and that separatist militancy, no matter what its immediate roots, was exploding. The warnings were ignored.
-It is possible to pinpoint some events that helped fuel the insurgency. First, at a time when militancy was peaking, Farooq's government released 70 of the most experienced, Pakistani-trained terrorists whose detention had been confirmed by the Advisory Board headed by the chief justice of the state high court (see box). Even though they were on parole, they are now untraceable.
+'''Footnotes''':
-The separatists saw this as an important victory. Their morale got a major boost when the V.P. Singh Government agreed to free 5 hardcore detenus in exchange for the release of Dr Rubaiya Sayeed. The files show that the decision to release the terrorists was taken by the Farooq government not after negotiations with the terrorists but on the very day of her kidnapping.
+- Comparable with 1993-94 Estimates;
-''' Districts of south Kashmir have been the main centres of secessionist activity '''
+- Comparable with 1999-2000 Estimates
-[[File: Districts of south Kashmir have been the main centres of secessionist activity.jpg| Districts of south Kashmir have been the main centres of secessionist activity |frame|500px]]
-Softliners in the Government had hoped that this would bring some of the extremists to the bargaining table. But the action achieved just the opposite. It swung the power pendulum away from the Government and squarely into the separatist camp. So far as the separatists were concerned they had won the first phase of their battle against India. There was nothing to negotiate. And they escalated their terror.
+== 1990-2016: below the  international poverty line==
+'''See graphics''':
-The crisis flared out of hand with the appointment of Jagmohan, not because the governor was unwilling to act. but because New Delhi seemed to have no clear direction in its Kashmir policy and tied the new administration's hands following the January 21 clashes in which securitymen killed violent pro-Pakistani demonstrators. The Government has appeared to falter, and that has given heart to the terrorists.
+''Proportion of population below the international poverty line between 1990 and 2016''
-From the secessionists' viewpoint, the insurgency has the Indian Government exactly where it wants it - divided in dealing with the problem.
+''Reduction in the death of children under the age of 5, for every 1,000 live births, between 1990 and 2016 ''
-There are now three centres of power dealing with Kashmir: Home Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed, a man with very little credibility in his home state, who veers between a hardline law-and-order approach and reviving the Assembly as a stopgap measure; Kashmir Affairs Minister George Fernandes - a novice as far as the intricacies of Kashmir politics are concerned - who believes that the Centre should deal with the militants as well as with some National Conference leaders; and Governor Jagmohan who is asking for a free hand to restore the state's administrative apparatus. The Mufti and Fernandes do not get along, and Fernandes goes about openly snubbing Jagmohan.
+[[File: Proportion of population below the international poverty line.jpg|Proportion of population below the international poverty line between 1990 and 2016;  [http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/Gallery.aspx?id=13_09_2017_015_007_006&type=P&artUrl=Having-a-bank-ac-can-change-a-womans-13092017015007&eid=31808 The Times of India], September 13, 2017|frame|500px]]
-''' For the first time, 'wanted' lists are being circulated '''
+[[File: Reduction in the death of children under the age of 5, for every 1,000 live births, between 1990 and 2016.jpg|Reduction in the death of children under the age of 5, for every 1,000 live births, between 1990 and 2016; [http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/Gallery.aspx?id=13_09_2017_015_007_006&type=P&artUrl=Having-a-bank-ac-can-change-a-womans-13092017015007&eid=31808 The Times of India], September 13, 2017|frame|500px]]
-[[File: For the first time, 'wanted' lists are being circulated.jpg| For the first time, 'wanted' lists are being circulated |frame|500px]]
-When he visits the valley, ostensibly to contact the underground, Raj Bhawan is informed neither of his movements nor of whom he talks to. And some of his actions have effectively served to reverse the tough decisions taken by the Jagmohan administration.
+==1993-2005: Percentage, number of Poor Estimated by Tendulkar Method==
+(Poverty Estimates) by Expert Group by Tendulkar Method using Mixed Reference Period
-For example, on April 2, after the state administration opposed a mass rally for the burial of Ashfaq Majid, a slain terrorist, Fernandes negotiated with a team of self-proclaimed representatives of the extremists and allowed a procession that swelled into a crowd of three lakh at which several of the most wanted militants were given a pulpit. Fernandes also met controversial government officials - like the jail superintendent sacked by the governor.
-The Centre sees this as a carrot-and-stick policy of keeping all channels open. But it is creating an impossible situation for the state administrators who believe that when lobbyists can bypass the system and seek audiences with Fernandes or appeal to the Mufti who has his own political interests in the state, it will be hard to crack down on corrupt officials and collaborators.
+[http://planningcommission.nic.in/data/datatable/data_2312/DatabookDec2014%2099.pdf  December 22, 2014: ''The Planning Commission'']
-Even finding a quick political fix in today's situation is a pipe dream. The National Conference, whose members have defected in droves is a spent force. Its MPs dare not enter the valley without massive security escort. And the grave of its founding father, Sheikh Abdullah, is guarded round the clock by two security companies because the militants have threatened to defile it. Even Maulvi Farooq lives in a fortress which he insists should be guarded by not state police but Central security forces.
-[[File: Some of the prominent Pandits killed between Dec 89 and the first week of April 1990.jpg| Some of the prominent Pandits killed between Dec 89 and the first week of April 1990 |frame|500px]]
-Militants openly issue calls to boycott Fernandes when he comes to the valley. And those with whom he has attempted contact - lawyer Mian Qayyoom, Imam Gul Baxi of Batamaloo, G. N. Hagroo, a civil rights activist, and journalist Sanaullah Butt - are hardly pro-Indian. Qayyoom says Kashmir cannot be held captive to the Simla agreement; his demand is nothing short of independence. And it is unclear whom these people represent.
+{| border="1"
+| rowspan="2" |
+| colspan="3" |
+'''Poverty Ratio (%) '''
+| colspan="3" |
+'''Number of Poor (million) '''
+|-
+|
+Rural
+|
+Urban
+|
+Total
+|
+Rural
+|
+Urban
+|
+Total
+|-
+| colspan="7" |
+'''I. Expert Group 2009 (Tendulkar Methodology) '''
+|-
+|
+'''1. 1993-94 '''
+|
+'''50.1 '''
+|
+'''31.8 '''
+|
+'''45.3 '''
+|
+'''328.60 '''
+|
+'''74.50 '''
+|
+'''403.70 '''
+|-
+|
+'''2. 2004-05 '''
+|
+'''41.8 '''
+|
+'''25.7 '''
+|
+'''37.2 '''
+|
+'''326.30 '''
+|
+'''80.80 '''
+|
+'''407.10 '''
+|-
+|
+'''3. 2009-10 '''
+|
+'''33.8 '''
+|
+'''20.9 '''
+|
+'''29.8 '''
+|
+'''278.21 '''
+|
+'''76.47 '''
+|
+'''354.68 '''
+|-
+|
+'''4. 2011-12 '''
+|
+'''25.7 '''
+|
+'''13.7 '''
+|
+'''21.9 '''
+|
+'''216.50 '''
+|
+'''52.80 '''
+|
+'''269.30 '''
+|-
+| colspan="7" |
+'''II. Expert Group 1993 (Lakdawala Methodology) '''
+|-
+|
+'''1. 1993-94 '''
+|
+'''37.3 '''
+|
+'''32.4 '''
+|
+'''36.0 '''
+|
+'''244.0 '''
+|
+'''76.3 '''
+|
+'''320.4 '''
+|-
+|
+'''2. 2004-05 '''
+|
+'''28.3 '''
+|
+'''25.7 '''
+|
+'''27.5 '''
+|
+'''220.9 '''
+|
+'''80.8 '''
+|
+'''301.7 '''
+|-
+| colspan="7" |
+'''Annual Average Decline from 1993-94 to 2011-12 '''
+|-
+| rowspan="2" |
+| colspan="3" |
+'''Poverty Ratio (% points) '''
+| colspan="3" |
+'''Number of Poor (million) '''
+|-
+|
+Rural
+|
+Urban
+|
+Total
+|
+Rural
+|
+Urban
+|
+Total
+|-
+|
+'''Annual Average Decline : 1993-94 to 2004-05 (% points per annum) '''
+|
+'''0.75 '''
+|
+'''0.55 '''
+|
+'''0.74 '''
+|
+'''0.21 '''
+|
+'''-0.57 '''
+|
+'''-0.31 '''
+|-
+|
+'''2004-05 from 1993-94 by Expert Group 1993 '''
+|
+'''0.82 '''
+|
+'''0.61 '''
+|
+'''0.77 '''
+|
+'''2.10 '''
+|
+'''-0.41 '''
+|
+'''1.70 '''
+|-
+|
+'''2009-10 from 2004-05 by Expert Group 2009 '''
+|
+'''1.60 '''
+|
+'''0.96 '''
+|
+'''1.48 '''
+|
+'''9.62 '''
+|
+'''0.87 '''
+|
+'''10.48 '''
+|-
+|
+'''Annual Average Decline : 2004-05 to 2011-12 (% points per annum) '''
+|
+'''2.32 '''
+|
+'''1.69 '''
+|
+'''2.18 '''
+|
+'''15.69 '''
+|
+'''4.00 '''
+|
+'''19.69 '''
+|}
-The bottom line of the militants is secession. And the bottom line of the Indian Government cannot go outside the Constitution. The two positions are irreconcilable. The time for theorising, post-mortems and historical regurgitations is over. New Delhi's writ in the valley runs from Raj Bhawan through Gupkar Road to the nearby winter secretariat. Two hundred yards on each side is terrorist territory. Consider, for example, just one fact. When the administration wanted to relax curfew from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. the militants imposed their own curfew. Not a soul came out into the streets.
+==2011-13: the enormity of the poverty that remains==
+[[File: Rural deprivation.jpg|Graphic courtesy: [http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/Gallery.aspx?id=04_07_2015_028_024_009&type=P&artUrl=Half-of-rural-India-touched-by-poverty-04072015028024&eid=31808 ''The Times of India'']|frame|500px]]
+[http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/Article.aspx?eid=31808&articlexml=Half-of-rural-India-touched-by-poverty-04072015028024 ''The Times of India''], Jul 04 2015
-The bulk of the people follow whatever institution wields the big stick. Today, that stick is in the hands of the militants. The primary task before the Government is to re-establish its writ and show that it has the political will to do so. To demonstrate that the country will not compromise an inch of its territory. It was the absence of this message during the Farooq regime, and a lack of clarity of purpose under V.P. Singh's Government that has hobbled the state administration and given a certain strategic advantage to the secessionists.
+''' MOST EXHAUSTIVE SOCIO-ECONOMIC SURVEY SHOWS COUNTRY FACES A GIGANTIC CHALLENGE '''
-Confusion and delay in regaining India's lost administrative turf in Kashmir will simply give Pakistan and the militants the most precious resource they can ask for - time. Their strategy is to wear New Delhi down to such an extent that the cost of maintaining Kashmir will become an impossible burden; or to keep a ready-made Pakistan inside India to be used by Pakistan to create constant problems.
+'' Half of rural India touched by poverty ''
-The view from New Delhi is that in the long run, time is on its own side because in the peaks and valleys that characterise terrorism all over the world, the fundamentalists, when they realise that they can't really break loose of India's grip, when they begin suffering economically, will wear down and seek a solution with the Centre. But this is precisely the kind of thinking that led to escalating violence in Punjab.
+India has a problem at hand and its magnitude is much higher than what was imagined or reported. That is the short and succinct message of the SocioEconomic and Caste Census (SECC) released on Friday .
+According to the census, 49% of rural households show signs of poverty . And 51% of households have `manual casual labour' as the source of income. Whichever way the figures are sliced and diced, the poverty data leaves no scope for assurance or optimism. Till now, every survey had been showing poverty as receding.
-In Kashmir the wait-and-wear-down attitude, considering how perilous the situation already is because of years of fence-sitting, is bound to make the problem even more intractable. The longer, for example, that security forces wait for orders to hit known training centres inside the valley's villages - so far more or less out of bounds - the more powerful will terrorist cadres become.
+The survey has used seven indicators of deprivation: All definite pointers to subsistence-level existence and seri ous handicaps like `kuccha houses', landless households engaged in manual labour, female-headed households with no adult working male member, households without a working adult, and all SC ST households.
-''' Of the nearly 90,000 refugees who have fled the Kashmir valley, many have come to Delhi '''
+While there can be room for correction, experts are unanimous that this would not change the bleak picture significantly . For instance, they are unanimous that all those dependent on `manual casual labour' for livelihood -51.14% of households -are bound to be poor.
-[[File: A makeshift camp of the migrant Pandits.jpg|  In Jammu, and to a lesser extent in Delhi, school classrooms and other government buildings were converted into makeshift camps for the migrant Pandits.  Every large room would accommodate several migrant Pandit families, who would spread thin mattresses and blankets on cold January floors.  |frame|500px]]
-They will have more time to .import more deadly weapons (they now have Stinger missiles as well), increase their finances, recruit cadres, mobilise international opinion, and increase their base and morale.
+The dismal scenario is illustrated by another set of dire figures: 2.37 crore households live in one-room kuccha houses, constituting 13.25% of the 17.91 crore rural households. At the same time, 30% of rural households own no land and are engaged in manual labour. The overall poverty figures for the country will also take into account the urban household survey that is yet to be released. But they , whenever they are out, are unlikely to change the overall picture.
-The longer the wait, the greater the forces and firepower of the secessionists, the more deadly and bloody any future confrontation. This would not only cause unpredictable international repercussions but also dangerously affect the mood of India's 98 million Muslims - as Operation Bluestar did in the case of Sikhs in India - who so far have remained unsympathetic to the fundamentalist cause in Kashmir.
+The degree of deprivation as evidenced by the rural survey poses an intractable challenge for the Modi government if it wants to draw up a consolidated list of the poor, known as `Below Poverty Line'. If the government goes by the new evidence, the BPL category would balloon beyond its fiscal capacity . Conversely , if it seeks to put a ceiling and depress the figures, it would attract the kind of controversy that had hit the UPA.
-Right now, much can be achieved through low-level, sustained pressure. Last week, the governor began by sacking 75 government servants involved in subversive activities, mounting weapons searches, raids on training camps, indefinite curfews, and arresting over 200 people trying to cross the border. He also refused to compromise with the kidnappers of the vice-chancellor of Kashmir University. For the time being, it seems, New Delhi is backing stern measures to stop the drift.
+The last government-commissioned figure had put the poverty line at a much lower 30%. The divergence is possibly the reason why the rural development ministry has desisted from coming out with a poverty figure while releasing the data for SECC.
-But the task ahead is Herculean. Lost ground will have to be recovered inch by inch even in the face of hostile international opinion, and pressure from internal political lobbies. Government offices, banks, transport, hotels, post offices will have to be opened, forcibly if necessary even if it means handing them to security forces or government officials from outside as in Assam in 1983.
+A possible way out for the Centre would be to keep various deprivation figures -like on housing, employment, destitution -separate and use them for better targeting of niche welfare and development programmes. The option of drawing up a fresh consolidated poverty list a la BPL may not be exercised.
-''' Subedar Bhushan Lal abandons his home in Kashmir '''
+SECC may be the fuel to partisan political fire. For Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who does not tire of accusing Congress of keeping the country trapped in under-development, it will serve as the catalyst to intensify his campaign. But the negative messaging has its limits and there is risk of the damning statistics getting identified with the government of the day , that is BJP.
-[[File: Subedar Bhushan Lal abandons his home in Kashmir.jpg| Subedar Bhushan Lal abandons his home in Kashmir |frame|500px]]
-And New Delhi must also realise that indirectly its coffers are funding the separatist movement, through the subsidised petrol and the telephone networks with which the subversives communicate. The question to be asked is whether the state should continue to provide those who have declared war against it the wherewithal for mobility and communications.
+==2012 poverty: World Bank report==
+[http://indianexpress.com/article/explained/world-bank-india-poverty-report-poverty-line-world-bank-survey-2879969/ ''The Indian Express''], June 28, 2016
-Should it continue to keep on its payroll government servants who refuse allegiance to the Constitution? Should it continue to supply electricity to mosques that use loudspeakers to preach jehad against the state? These are the hard decisions to be made if India's writ is to run again in the valley.
+Yue Li and Martin Rama
-In Kashmir - where the Centre has invested some Rs 70,000 crore in subsidies, what to say of the blood of Indian soldiers in two wars - the nation faces what is perhaps the gravest challenge to the ideas on which its integrity is moored. There are no soft options left. And temporary reverses must not be allowed to reverse the process of a sustained reclamation. The country can no longer afford to behave like a tenant put on notice to vacate somebody else's property.
+Using '''National Sample Survey (NSS) data from 2012'''
-===TERRORISTS RELEASED BY FAROOQ ABDULLAH GOVERNMENT ===
-Between July and December 1989, 70 hardcore terrorists were released by the Farooq Abdullah government. Below is a partial list. All detentions had been confirmed by the Advisory Body headed by the chief justice of the Jammu & Kashmir High Court.
+'''Where you live decides how ‘well’ you live'''
-Mohammed Afzal Sheikh of Trehgam
+Whether a household is poor or not depends not only on its assets, education and skills but also, importantly, on where it lives. Consider a ‘typical’ Indian household, which has four members and where the adults have less than nine years of education. Assuming this household is also ‘typical’ in other respects, it would spend Rs 8,121 per month if it lived in urban Maharashtra, but only Rs 3,735 a month if it resided in rural Bihar. A part of this difference can be explained by the higher cost of living in urban Maharashtra. Nonetheless, a big part of it can be attributed to the real difference in consumption levels between the two locations. One may think of this difference in consumption levels — 117 per cent in this case — as the gain associated with living in a ‘good’ location.
-Crossed over to Pakistani territory. Stayed in the home of his brother-in-law, Mohammed Wani, in POK at Athmuqam. Went to Peshawar for training. Met Javed Maqbool Butt and Showkat Maqbool Butt, sons of the hanged JKLF leader Maqbool Butt, with the help of JKLF Chairman Amanullah Khan, in Muzaffarabad. Took oath of allegiance to POK, with a thumb impression using his blood. Was responsible for bomb blast damaging two buses.
+It is, however, important to note that this clear distinction between urban and rural areas no longer exists in India. A decade ago, India’s cities and countryside were truly different. Nowadays, the difference between urban and rural areas is mostly a matter of degree. While cities are expanding beyond their municipal boundaries, many once-rural areas are becoming denser and acquiring more urban characteristics. Today, as cities move to people as much as people move to cities, India’s rural-urban divide is being replaced by a rural-urban gradation.
-Rafiq Ahmed Ahangar
+In a recent paper, we explored how this messy urbanisation affects the likelihood of a household being poor, and its living standards more generally. We used National Sample Survey (NSS) data from 2012 to compare patterns in living standards across four different types of locations along the rural-urban gradation, from small rural areas with a population of less than 5,000 to large urban areas with a population greater than one million. In all, we considered roughly 1,400 places spread across the 599 districts for which we have good data.
+With this more granular spatial perspective, we found that the ‘typical’ Indian household could consume Rs 13,554 per month in urban Gurgaon in Haryana, which has the highest consumption levels among all the 1,400 places considered. At the other extreme, a similar household in a small village in the Malkangiri district of Odisha would consume only Rs 2,928. Seen from this more detailed standpoint, the difference in consumption levels rises to 362 per cent.
-Went to Pakistan on August 22,1988 via Leepa. Trained in handling explosives. Involved in several bombings.
+Clearly, where a household lives matters. About half of the overall variation in consumption expenditure across places can be explained by differences in a household’s characteristics such as its ownership of assets, in its education and skills, and in its age composition — or how many working members there are in a household. But when we also take the household’s place of residence into account, nearly two thirds of this difference can be explained. This means that one third of the variation in per capita consumption in India is related, in one way or another, to the place where a household lives.
+The analysis yields other insights too. First, it has now become difficult to tell the difference between large rural areas and small urban areas. And, that on average, small urban areas and large rural areas can support similar consumption levels.
-Mohammad Ayub Najar
+'''It’s not just where you live, near what you live matters too'''
-Arrested following crossfiring incident near Jamia Masjid on August 25,1989. Was detained under Public Safety Act. On December 8, 1989, the day of the kidnapping of Dr Rubaiya Sayeed, it was decided in the office chamber of agriculture minister, Mohammed Shafi, that he would be released with 45 others.
+It also appears that the ‘best’ places to live in India tend to be near each other. Clusters of such places are to be found in the northwest of India, along the western and southwestern coasts, and in India’s northeast, towards Bangladesh. Among them are the agglomerations surrounding Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Delhi, Jodhpur, Kolkata, Mumbai, Puducherry, South Goa and Thiruvananthapuram.
+Some of these clusters are huge. For example, the one around Delhi spreads across 60 districts, spanning seven of India’s northwestern states and Union Territories. Similarly, the cluster around Thiruvananthapuram spans 19 districts across the three southern states of Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
+Although generally, urban India tends to have higher consumption levels than rural areas, there are some surprises. Interestingly, it is not only large urban areas which display the highest gains in living standards. In fact, many of the best places to live and work are secondary towns, and some of them are still administratively rural. What makes these ‘good’ rural locations special is that they lie in the catchment area of some of the best locations in the country. Seen this way, what matters for a household is not just ‘where’ it lives, but also ‘near what’ it lives.
-Farooq Ahmed Ganai
+'''Some ‘good’ locations spread their prosperity more than others'''
-Went to Pakistan under the code name of Khalid. Took courses in creating internal disturbances. Mission was to target army, police, the CRPF and BSF, and assassinate dignitaries. Met Amanullah Khan in the house of Raja Muzaffar Khan at Muzaffarabad. Involved in bombings, arson and looting.
+However, all the ‘good’ locations do not spread their prosperity around them evenly. For instance, both Bengaluru and Delhi are among India’s top locations. Between them, Bengaluru enjoys a slightly higher gain in living standards than Delhi, arguably making it a better city to live and work in. But Delhi spreads its benefits more widely, doing substantially better than Bengaluru in the extent of its impact on surrounding areas. In Delhi’s case, the gain in living standards is still high up to 200 km away from the core of the city, while in Bengaluru it almost vanishes just 100 km from the city centre. We do not know for sure why this is so, but the issue certainly warrants further research.
+T‘e ‘least good’ places to live and work are concentrated in the centre of India, where the states of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Odisha meet. A number of such places can also be found in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, along the Ganga basin. Surprisingly, most of them do not fall in the rural parts of these states, but rather in small urban areas.
-Ghulam Mohammed Gujri
+'''Tribal populations live in some of the most disadvantaged places'''
-Entered Pakistan in August 1988 via Bungna Bala, Kupwara district, for sophisticated arms training. Crossed with help of two POK guides, stayed for the night in the house of one Ghulam Mohammed Wani, originally a resident of Kupwara but settled in Pakistan at Athmuqam (POK). This house was being used as a transit camp for the trainees. He was issued one Kalashnikov gun, two magazines, 200 rounds of ammunition, and detonators. Arrested following involvement in a bombing.
+Last but not least, paying attention to the places where people live changes our interpretation of the key determinants of poverty. One of the most dramatic changes concerns our understanding of why some social groups are poorer than others. For instance, a tribal household consumes 23 per cent less than a household from the general category that is otherwise identical. But when the place of residence is taken into account, this gap falls to 13 per cent. In other words, a superficial analysis would suggest that poverty among tribals is related to their socio-economic characteristics. On the other hand, our spatial analysis suggests a key reason why tribal populations are poor is because they live in some of the most disadvantaged places in the country.
-Farooq Ahmed Malik
+=Causes of poverty=
+==Expenditure on health==
+[https://epaper.timesgroup.com/Olive/ODN/TimesOfIndia/shared/ShowArticle.aspx?doc=TOIDEL%2F2018%2F06%2F13&entity=Ar01514&sk=F0CBDB3D&mode=text  Rema Nagarajan, Health spending pushed 55m into poverty in a year: Study, June 13, 2018: ''The Times of India'']
-Entered Pakistan with the help of Abdul Ahad Waza via Rashanpur for arms and explosives training. Met Amanullah Khan. Arrested after bomb blast in Telegraph Office, Srinagar.
-Nazir Ahmed Sheikh
+'' ‘38 Million Made Poor Just By Having To Buy Medicines’ ''
-Entered Pakistan for arms training. Was taken to the house of Raja Muzaffar Khan. Met Amanullah Khan. On return, was arrested for role in Anantnag bombing.
+About 55 million Indians were pushed into poverty in a single year because of having to fund their own healthcare and 38 million of them fell below the poverty line due to spending on medicines alone, a study by three experts from the Public Health Foundation of India has estimated. The study, published in the British Medical Journal, reveals that non-communicable diseases like cancer, heart diseases and diabetes account for the largest chunk of spending by households on health.
-Ghulam Mohi-Ud-Din Teli
+The study concluded that among non-communicable diseases, cancer had the highest probability of resulting in “catastrophic expenditure” for a household. Health expenditure is considered to be catastrophic if it constitutes 10% or more of overall consumption expenditure of a household. In the case of road traffic and non-road traffic injuries, it was found that catastrophic expenditure was higher among the poorest, with average stay in hospital beyond seven days.
-Hardcore Jamaat-e-lslami. Key co-conspirator in an espionage ring. Under his guidance, two Handwara residents went to Pakistan to be trained to spy on Indian Army. Information passed to Pakistani intelligence.
+Data from nationwide consumer expenditure surveys spanning two decades from 1993-94 up to 2011-12 and the ‘Social Consumption: Health’ survey done by the National Sample Survey Organisation in 2014 were analysed by the study authors including health economists Sakthivel Selvaraj and Habib Hasan Farooqui.
-Riyaz Ahmed Lone
+While the study looks at data up to 2011-12, it refers to measures taken by the government since then to reduce the expenditure burden on medicines and healthcare on households. It noted that though the Drug Price Control Order 2013 brought all essential drugs in the National List of Essential Medicines under price control, these constituted just 20% of the retail pharmacy market and that the sales volume of many of the drugs brought under price control has fallen.
-Trained in Pakistan. Involved in several bombings.
+Despite governments launching several health insurance schemes, a majority of the population continued to incur significant expenditure on medicines as hospitalisationbased treatment, which is what most insurance schemes cover, constitutes only one third of India’s morbidity burden, noted the study. It added that frequency of hospitalisation was smaller than outpatient visits in general, especially for NCDs, which are chronic in nature requiring multiple consultations and long-term or lifelong medication and support.
-Farooq Ahmed Thakur
+With shrinking availability of free drugs in the government health system for outpatients and a sharper decline in their availability for inpatients, there was little incentive for patients to seek public healthcare, noted the study, adding that medicine-related expenditure for households remained high as most patients sought outpatient care in the more expensive private sector.
-Arrested following a Shootout with security forces near Jamia Masjid on August 25, 1989. Considerable amount of arms and ammunition recovered from him.
+As for the government's promise to provide cheap medicines through Jan Aushadhi stores, though the target of opening over 3,000 stores has been met, they have been plagued with frequent stockouts and quality issues. Most Jan Aushadhi stores have barely 100-150 formulations instead of the promised 600-plus medicines and their numbers are too small compared to the 5.5 lakh plus pharmacies in India.
-=1990: Rajiv, Benazir were ready to resolve Kashmir dispute=
+=Decline in 2005-12=
-[https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/rajiv-gandhi-benazir-bhutto-were-ready-to-resolve-kashmir-dispute-zardari/articleshow/62805272.cms  February 6, 2018: ''The Times of India'']
+==Number of poor reduced from 407 million to 269 million==
+Why no applause for 138 million exiting poverty?
+Swaminathan S Anklesaria Aiyar
-'''HIGHLIGHTS'''
+[http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=TOINEW&BaseHref=CAP/2013/07/28&PageLabel=18&EntityId=Ar01702&ViewMode=HTML The Times of India] 2013/07/28
-Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated while campaigning for the Congress party candidate in Sriperumbudur on May 21, 1991
+When China reduced people in poverty by 220 million between 1978 and 2004, the world applauded this as the greatest poverty reduction in history. Amartya Sen, Joseph Stiglitz and all other poverty specialists cheered.
-The Pakistan People's Party co-chairman further said that no other government except PPP took up this issue with India
+India has just reduced its number of poor from 407 million to 269 million, a fall of 138 million in seven years between. This is faster than China’s poverty reduction rate at a comparable stage of development, though for a much shorter period. Are the China-cheerers hailing India for doing even better?
-Zardari said Musharraf's (India friendly) plan on the Kashmir issue was rejected by other generals
+No, many who hailed China are today rubbishing the Indian achievement as meaningless or statistically fudged. This includes the left, many NGOs and some TV anchors. The double standard is startling.
+The Tendulkar Committee determined India’s poverty definition. The Tendulkar poverty line in 2011-12 came to Rs 4,000 per rural and Rs 5,000 per urban family of five. Critics say this is ridiculously low. But it is roughly equal to the World Bank’s well-established poverty line of $1.25 per day in Purchasing Power Parity terms (which translates into around 50 cents/day in current dollars). This is used by over 100 countries, by the United Nations and many other international agencies. When the whole world uses this standard, why call it statistical fudge?
-Rajiv Gandhi and Benazir Bhutto were ready to resolve the Kashmir issue amicably but the Indian leader was assassinated during the election campaign, Pakistan's former president Asif Ali Zardari has claimed.
+When China claimed to have lifted 220 million people out of poverty, guess what its poverty line was? Just $85 per year, or $0.24 per day! Whatever statistical adjustments you make for comparability, it was far lower than today’s Tendulkar line. Did today’s critics of the Tendulkar line castigate China for fudging? No, they sang China’s praises.
+===Defining extreme (Tendulkar) and moderate poverty (Rangarajan)===
+The World Bank actually has two lines — $1.25 denoting extreme poverty, and $2 denoting moderate poverty. India can also adopt two lines, the Tendulkar line for extreme poverty and a new Rangarajan line for moderate poverty, at around $2/day.
-Zardari also revealed that former dictator Gen (retd.) Pervez Musharraf had come up with a plan on Kashmir issue but other generals could not agree to it.
+But this will in no way diminish the great achievement of slashing the number of those historically called poor — we can call them the “extreme poor”— by 138 million in seven years. Allowing for rising population in this period, the number saved from extreme poverty is even higher at 180 million.
-"BB (Benazir Bhutto) sahiba had spoken to Rajiv Gandhi in 1990 who agreed to resolve the Kashmir issue amicably. Rajiv told Benazir that during the last 10 years no one including Gen Zia from Pakistan spoke with us on this issue," Zardari said at a Kashmir rally here last evening.
+Given our rising GDP and expectations, we can rename the Tendulkar line as our extreme poverty line. But to condemn it as statistical fudge is ridiculous. The $1.25 line is a world standard, even if it is below the cynics’ line. Indian critics may not accept it, but the world will.
-"He (Rajiv) admitted that Kashmir was an important issue and should be resolved. Rajiv said he would take up this issue with Pakistan after coming to power but he was assassinated (in 1991)," the former president added.
+===A higher poverty line is drawn===
+There is, of course, the separate issue of who should be entitled to various government subsidies, including food subsidies. Economists talk of targeting subsidies at those below the Tendulkar line. But for politicians, the aim of subsidies is to win votes. And clearly you win more votes by extending subsidies to two-thirds of the population, rather than the poorest one-third.
-Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated while campaigning for the Congress party candidate in Sriperumbudur on May 21, 1991.
+This spread of subsidies to those above the extreme poverty line was once called “leakages to the non-poor.” But it is considered good politics even if it is bad economics. This explains why the government chose to cover 67% of the population in the Food Security Bill, even though the poverty ratio at the time was 30%.
-The Pakistan People's Party co-chairman further said that no other government except PPP took up this issue with India.
+However, critics quickly exposed this as a double standard. They asked, if your Food Security Bill views two-thirds of the people as needy, how could you have a poverty line saying only one third are poor? The government found it difficult to say this was good politics even if it was bad economics. Instead, it appointed the Rangarajan Committee to devise a higher poverty line. This line will almost certainly be around the moderate poverty line ($ 2/day in PPP terms) of the World Bank.
-After Benazir, it was PPP's previous government (2008-13) that had taken up the Kashmir issue with the then Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh.
+Many critics and TV anchors will cheer at the prospect of freebies to two-thirds of the population. Yet here lie the seeds of fiscal disaster. India is poor because it has spent too much on ill-targeted subsidies, leaving too little for infrastructure and effective education that will raise incomes permanently. Total subsidies (mostly non-merit subsidies) exploded in the 1980s, reaching 14.5 % of GDP, almost as much as all central and state tax revenue. This ended in a fiscal and balance of payments crisis in 1991.
-Zardari said Musharraf's (India friendly) plan on the Kashmir issue was rejected by other generals.
+The risk of a new poverty line of $2/day is that it will create political demands for more freebies to twothird of the population. That will further erode limited funds for productive spending.
-"I have a copy of that secret plan of Musharraf on Kashmir. When Musharraf presented that plan before other generals they left the room," he said.
+In theory we can limit subsidies to the poorest and cut out unworthy subsidies. In practice, the combined pressure of vote banks and TV anchors threatens to raise subsidies beyond all prudent limits. There lie the seeds of another 1991-style disaster.
-He said ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif cannot talk on the Kashmir issue even in his Muzafarabad (Pakistan-occupied Kashmir) rally as he is a friend of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
+= Decline in 2005-16=
+==2005-16: Over 270m in India moved out of poverty==
+[https://epaper.timesgroup.com/Olive/ODN/TimesOfIndia/shared/ShowArticle.aspx?doc=TOIDEL%2F2018%2F09%2F21&entity=Ar00322&sk=2F89651C&mode=text  ‘Over 270m in India moved out of poverty in 10 years’, September 21, 2018: ''The Times of India'']
-"A friend of Modi cannot talk on Kashmir. Sharif was rightly ousted from the prime minister house for betraying Kashmiris," he said.
-=1990: Role of government servants in the separatist movement=
+Over 270 million people in India moved out of poverty in the decade since 2005-06 and the poverty rate in the country nearly halved over the 10-year period, a promising sign that poverty is being tackled globally, according to latest estimates.
-''' When Naeem Akhtar and 4 others were dismissed for being ‘threat to India’s security, sovereignty and integrity’ '''
-Ahmed Ali Fayyaz, _Published in  STATE TIMES, Oct 21, 2016
+The 2018 global Multidimensional Poverty Index released here by the United Nations Development Programme and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative noted that in India, 271 million moved out of poverty between 2005/06 and 2015/16. The country’s poverty rate has nearly halved, falling from 55%to 28% over the 10-year period.
+India is the first country for which progress over time has been estimated. “Although the level of poverty is staggering, so is the progress that can be made in tackling it” UNDP administrator Achim Steiner said. PTI
-With the volcanic eruption of armed insurgency, coupled with a separatist political movement, the administrative machinery was falling brick by brick January through March in 1990. Hundreds of thousands—and once a full million—of the Kashmiris used to march to the United Nations Military Observers Group for India and Pakistan at Sonwar, demanding separation from India and implementation of the UN resolutions on Plebiscite.
-Suddenly the separatist movement received a shot in the arm when [six] senior IAS officers, including the stalwarts Hindal Haider Tayyabji, Ashok Jaitly, M.L, Kaul and Mohammad Shafi Pandit, signed and issued an appeal to the UN [Indpaedia believes that it was addressed to the Governor of Jammu & Kashmir and was also signed by Sheikh Ghulam Rasool and Sushma Chaudhary] to intervene and stop human rights abuse by security forces in the Valley. Historic political developments took place when Vishwanath Pratap Singh was Prime Minister, Mufti Mohammad Union Home Minister and Jammu and Kashmir was under Governor’s, followed by President’s rule, in 1990. Many of Kashmir’s bureaucrats besides civil and Police officers became part and parcel of the secessionist movement.
+''' 1.3bn live in poverty globally, says report '''
-Deputy Commissioner Excise Naeem Akhtar’s official residence at Government Quarter No: J-22 became the postal address of the movement as almost all the separatist politicians had been detained and lodged in different jails outside the Valley. Trade unions merged into a coordination committee which chose former Chief Engineer of Power Development Department Abdul Hamid Matoo as its President and Muzaffar Ahmad Khan as General Secretary.
+The 2018 global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) released here by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) said that about 1.3 billion people live in multidimensional poverty globally.
-Senior KAS officers like Muzaffar Ahmad Khan, then RTO Kashmir and General Manager with J&K Bank, Abdul Rashid Mubarki, additional Secretary Khizar Mohammad Wani and other prominent faces of the Kashmir Administrative Service came to be seen as the “real representatives of the Kashmir cause and sentiment”.
+This is almost a quarter of the population of the 104 countries for which the 2018 MPI is calculated. Of these 1.3 billion, almost half — 46% — are thought to be living in severe poverty and are deprived in at least half of the dimensions covered in the MPI, it said.
-In months of the IAS officers’ memorandum, around 250 J&K officers, many of them between the ranks of Deputy Secretary to Commissioner-Secretary, issued another passionate appeal to the ‘Citizens of the World’. Believed to have been drafted by Akhtar in his Queen’s English, it called for Plebiscite in Jammu and Kashmir under the UN resolution — euphemism for Kashmir’s secession from India and accession to Pakistan. The Kashmiris named it ‘Azadi’. It created ripples in India and abroad.
+While there is much that needs to be done to tackle poverty globally, there are “promising signs that such poverty can be, and is being, tackled”.
-Governor Girish Chander Saxena declared five senior and influential officers — Abdul Hamid Matoo, Naeem Akhar, A.R. Mubarki, Abdul Salam Bhat and Muzaffar Ahmad Khan — as threat to the State’s security, sovereignty and integrity and ordered their dismissal from service. Within an hour, the dismissed officers and their colleagues, holding key positions in the Government, held a meeting at Akhtar’s official residence in Jawahar Nagar. The coordination committee called for an indefinite strike, making a host of demands. Not one was conceded by Saxena’s government.
+“The Multidimensional Poverty Index gives insights that are vital for understanding the many ways in which people experience poverty, and it provides a new perspective on the scale and nature of global poverty while reminding us that eliminating it in all its forms is far from impossible,” UNDP administrator Achim Steiner said.
-The 72-day-long employees’ strike, that started on September 15, 1990, crippled the services in Kashmir. On behalf of Governor Saxena, Advisor (Home) Mehmood Ahmad Zaki (who later retired as GOC of Srinagar-based 15 Corps of Army) and Additional Chief Secretary Home Mehmood-ur-Rehman called on senior IAS officer Sheikh Ghulam Rasool (then Financial Commissioner Revenue, who was emerging as potential contender for the coveted position of Chief Secretary) and asked him to use his good offices to resolve the crisis.
+Although similar comparisons over time have not yet been calculated for other countries, the latest information from UNDP’s Human Development Index shows significant development progress in all regions, including many sub-Saharan African countries.
-There was no breakthrough till VP Singh’s regime ended and Chander Shekhar took over as Prime Minister on November 10. Governor Saxena and Chief Secretary R.K. Takkar did strongly refuse to revoke the five officers’ dismissal and their reinstatement.
+Between 2006 and 2017, life expectancy increased over seven years in sub-Saharan Africa and by almost four years in South Asia, and enrolment rates in primary education are up to 100%.
-President of the coordination committee Matoo had earlier played a key role in persuading the legendary Policeman and retired Director General of Police Ghulam Hassan Shah against accepting Jagmohan’s offer of appointment as Advisor to Governor. Shah did not join Jagmohan’s government even as the order of his appointment was reportedly issued after seeking his consent. Matoo’s daughter was married to Shah’s son.
+This bodes well for improvements in multidimensional poverty.
-One day in October, days before the annual Durbar Move, Sheikh Ghulam Rasool called over 50 officers to his Sonwar residence and urged them to bring home to Matoo, Naeem and others that shutting down entire services and systems could lead to miseries of the common people and poor employees, making it hard for them to sustain the agitation. Even the pharmacies and ration depots had not been exempted from the strike.
+The new figures show that in 104 primarily low- and middle-income countries, 662 million children are considered multidimensionally poor. In 35 countries, half of all children are poor. The MPI looks beyond income to understand how people experience poverty in multiple and simultaneous ways.
-It was decided in the meeting that three officers — Ghulam Abbas (DC Srinagar), Aijaz Ahmad Malik (PCCF) and Ghulam Ahmad Lone (Law Secretary) — would meet the employees coordination committee members at Matoo’s residence near Al-Farooq Masjid in Jawahar Nagar.
+It identifies how people are being left behind across three key dimensions: health, education and living standards, lacking such things as clean water, sanitation, adequate nutrition or primary education. Those who are deprived in at least a third of the MPI’s components are defined as multidimensionally poor. AGENCIES
-On their return from Matoo’s house, the three senior officers narrated to Sheikh Ghulam Rasool that the coordination committee members were “extremely discourteous and rude”. “Sir, they treated us as traitors of the Kashmir cause and agents of the Government of India. They alleged that we are hobnobbing with Governor to fail the freedom struggle. Naeem said what nonsense of ration are you talking about. Kashmiris want freedom”, one of the them told Rasool.
+The estimates showed that half of all people living in poverty are younger than 18 years
-“Sir we made it clear to them that Abbas Sahab is here in his personal capacity, not as DC Srinagar, so are two of us. We conveyed to them Zaki Sahab’s and Rehman Sahab’s assurance that they would be reinstated immediately after they call off the strike. But they didn’t relent. They addressed us as if they were the Governors and Chief Ministers and we were the class 4th employees”, another officer told Rasool.
+===…according to the Multidimensional Poverty Index===
+[https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/is-this-the-best-news-for-india-in-over-a-decade/articleshow/65910238.cms  Is this the best news for India in over a decade?, September 22, 2018: ''The Times of India'']
-Commissioner Secretary ARI & Training Nazir Ahmad Kamili told Rasool that he and some other officers had also received threats on phone. “They posed as militants but we are sure they were our own colleagues trying to intimidate us”, Kamili said.
+[[File: 2006- 2016- Per cent reduction in poverty in the various states of India, The largest number of people (absolute  numbers) who rose above the poverty were from these states, The reduction in poverty in urban and rural areas.jpg|2006> 2016: <br/> i) Per cent reduction in poverty in the various states of India ; <br/> ii) The largest number of people (absolute  numbers) who rose above the poverty were from these states; <br/> iii) The reduction in poverty in urban and rural areas; <br/>  From: [https://epaper.timesgroup.com/Olive/ODN/TimesOfIndia/shared/ShowArticle.aspx?doc=TOIDEL%2F2018%2F09%2F22&entity=Ar00401&sk=E94FEF2E&mode=text  Is this the best news for India in over a decade?, September 22, 2018: ''The Times of India'']|frame|500px]]
-The matter didn’t end there. Matoo and his team in their speeches at Srinagar Municipality and other places alleged that some officers were out on the mission of failing the employees’ strike and the freedom struggle. Then only functional newspaper, late Mohammad Yousuf Qadri’s Afaaq, carried a story on such whispers. It was decided in Rasool’s meeting with the officers that three officers would go to editor of Afaaq and publish a statement about their failure to convince the coordination committee members on suspending the strike. “If all of them want to carry on, we will say that we too are with it”, said Sheikh and others.
+[[File: 2006- 2016- Reduction in poverty, by caste and religion.jpg|2006> 2016- Reduction in poverty, by caste and religion <br/> From: [https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/is-this-the-best-news-for-india-in-over-a-decade/articleshow/65910238.cms  Is this the best news for India in over a decade?, September 22, 2018: ''The Times of India'']|frame|500px]]
-A group of three officers was deputed to Qadri Sahab. They boarded the red-cross marked vehicle of Director Health Services and handed over their “clarification” to the editor’s son, Jeelani Qadiri, at his office near Abi Guzar. Jeelani agreed to publish but told the officers that he would need his father’s approval as it was a “sensitive matter”. Soon the trio arrived at the editor’s home in Balgarden.
+[[File: 2006- 2016- How Indian states fared in the 10 aspects of measuring poverty; The best and worst states.jpg|2006> 2016- How Indian states fared in the 10 aspects of measuring poverty; The best and worst states <br/> From: [https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/is-this-the-best-news-for-india-in-over-a-decade/articleshow/65910238.cms  Is this the best news for India in over a decade?, September 22, 2018: ''The Times of India'']|frame|500px]]
-Director Health Services Dr Muzaffar-uz-Zamaan Drabu, who lived in Karan Nagar neighbourhood, went in to meet Qadiri Sahab who obliged the officer. While he was still with Qadiri Sahab, some residents gathered around the vehicle and asked its driver about the officers meeting the editor. As he narrated everything with naiveté and honesty, the small group of residents began saying loudly that someone should make an announcement on the mosque’s PAS that the “traitors” were meeting Qadri Sahab. Someone was heard saying that they should set the vehicle on fire and beat up the “traitors”. Law Secretary Lone, who was inside the vehicle, turned pale.
+India has made tremendous progress in pulling its people out of poverty. Over a 10-year period between 2005-06 and 2015-16, 271 million people moved out of poverty, with the country’s poverty rate nearly halving — falling from 55% to 28%. But there’s still a huge discrepancy between states. While Kerala has performed consistently well, some states like Bihar have struggled to better their lot. These are the findings of a UN report that takes a holistic view of poverty, factoring in education, health and standard of living to come up with an index of poverty.
-However, as the motley gathering of the residents witnessed Dr Drabu emerging out of the editor’s home, they saluted him. He made it clear to them that none of the officers was working against the interests of the Kashmiris or the employees’ strike.
-Immediately after VP Singh’s and Mufti Sayeed’s government at the Centre ended and Chander Shekhar took over as Prime Minister, senior National Conference leaders Dr Farooq Abdullah and Prof Saifuddin Soz persuaded him to withdraw the dismissal of the five Kashmiri officers as a “goodwill gesture”. They assured the new PM that it could initiate a process of resolving the crisis by understanding and dialogue. On November 26 the employees’ strike was called off as Saxena, on PM’s instruction, revoked the dismissal orders.
+''' WHAT IS THIS INDEX? '''
-Among the reinstated officers and bureaucrats, Abdul Salam Bhat later functioned as DC in Udhampur and Srinagar, Muzaffar Khan headed several departments including Handicrafts and Estates before his retirement. Naeem Akhtar functioned as Secretary Tourism before holding a tenure as Secretary to Chief Minister Mufti Sayeed. For some time, when R.K. Jerath was on leave, Akhatr also held charge of the key portfolio of General Administration Department. Ultimately, in 2013 he became PDP’s Member in Legislative Council and in 2015 Chief Minister Mufti Sayeed inducted him as Minister of Education. He retained his berth and portfolio in Mehbooba Mufti’s Cabinet in 2016.
+Like development, poverty is multidimensional — but traditional methods only look at income to compute poverty.
-= All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC)/ 1993- =
+The Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) complements monetary measures of poverty by considering overlapping deprivations suffered by individuals at the same time.
-==Hurriyat: Its History, Role and Relevance ==
-[http://indianexpress.com/article/explained/hurriyat-its-history-role-and-relevance/    Muzamil Jaleel | August 31, 2015, Indian Express]
+The index identifies deprivations across the same three dimensions as the human development index (HDI) — health, education, standard of living — and shows the number of people who are multidimensionally poor.
-New Delhi has now twice made high-level dialogue with Islamabad conditional upon Pakistan not talking to the separatists. Who are the Hurriyat? What is their politics? Do they speak for the people of the Valley?
+=Decline in poverty: 2010> 19=
+==Details==
+[https://epaper.timesgroup.com/Olive/ODN/TimesOfIndia/shared/ShowArticle.aspx?doc=TOIDEL%2F2020%2F07%2F18&entity=Ar01116&sk=39C38023&mode=text  273m Indians out of poverty in 10 yrs, India Saw World’s Biggest Cut In Number Of Multi-Dimensionally Poor During 2005-15: UN, July 18, 2020: ''The Times of India'']
-While the reason for the cancellation of talks between the National Security Advisers (NSAs) of India and Pakistan was New Delhi’s insistence on keeping Kashmir off the table and discussing only terrorism, the decision to disallow a customary meeting between Kashmiri separatist leaders and Pakistani officials in New Delhi ahead of the bilateral became a key chapter in the fiasco.
+India had the biggest reduction in the number of multi-dimensionally poor people estimated at 273 million during the 2005-15 period, a UN report has said.
-The Pak High Commission had invited both factions of the Hurriyat, Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chief Yasin Malik, and Shabir Shah for a meeting with Pak NSA Sartaj Aziz. New Delhi’s new red line, excluding the Kashmir issue and terming the separatist leadership as the “third party”, and Islamabad’s refusal to accept these conditions, has refocussed attention on the Hurriyat, the political platform of the separatist movement for more than two decades now.
+The data, released by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI), showed that 65 of the 75 countries studied significantly reduced multidimensional poverty levels between 2000 and 2019.
-This is the second time that talks have been called off over the issue of Pak officials meeting Kashmiri separatist leaders. New Delhi had called off a Foreign Secretary-level engagement for this reason last year.
+Four countries — Armenia (2010–2015/2016), India (2005/2006–2015/2016), Nicaragua (2001–2011/2012) and North Macedonia (2005/2006–2011) — halved their global MPI (multidimensional poverty index) value and did so in 5.5–10.5 years. These countries show what is possible for countries with very different initial poverty levels. They account for roughly a fifth of the world’s population, mostly because of India, the report said. The multidimensional index is a measure that looks beyond income to include access to safe water, education, electricity, food, and six other indicators.
-''' Birth of the Hurriyat '''
+But the impact of Covid-19 may slow down efforts to reduce multidimensional poverty. The pandemic unfolded in the midst of this analysis. While data is not yet available to measure rise of global poverty after the pandemic, simulations based on different scenarios suggest that, if unaddressed, progress across 70 developing countries could be set back by 3–10 years, the report said.
-The All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) was formed on July 31, 1993, as a political platform of the separatist movement. It was an extension of the conglomerate of parties that had come together to contest Assembly polls against a National Conference-Congress alliance in 1987 — an election that was widely alleged to have been rigged. The conglomerate of disparate ideologies was held together by their common position that Jammu & Kashmir was “under occupation of India”, and the collective demand that “the wishes and aspirations of the people of the state should be ascertained for a final resolution of the dispute”.
+“Covid-19 is having a profound impact on the development landscape. But this data — from before the pandemic — is a message of hope. Past success stories on how to tackle the many ways people experience poverty in their daily lives can show how to build back better and improve the lives of millions,” said Sabina Alkire, director of Ophi at the University of Oxford.
-At a time when militancy was at its peak, this conglomerate represented the political face of the militant movement, and claimed to “represent the wishes and aspirations of the people”. It had brought together two separate, but strong ideologies: those who sought J&K’s independence from both India and Pakistan, and those who wanted J&K to become part of Pakistan. Most of the groups that were part of the Hurriyat had their militant wings, or were linked to a militant outfit.
+Among the 1.3 billion people still living in multidimensional poverty today, more than 80% are deprived in at least five of the ten indicators used to measure health, education and living standards in the global MPI. The data also reveals that the burden of multidimensional poverty disproportionately falls on children. Half of the 1.3 billion poor have not yet turned 18, while 107 million are 60 or older, the report said.
-Before the formation of the APHC, there was another political platform — the Tehreek-i-Hurriyat Kashmir (THK). It was headed by the advocate Mian Abdul Qayoom, and consisted of 10 groups: the Jamat-e-Islami, JKLF, Muslim Conference, Islamic Students’ League, Mahaz-e-Azadi, Muslim Khawateen Markaz, Kashmir Bar Association, Ittehadul Muslimeen, Dukhtaran-e-Millat and Jamiat-e-Ahle Hadees. But this first separatist political platform did not have much influence.
+Children show higher rates of multidimensional poverty: half of multidimensionally poor people (644 million) are children under age 18. One in three children is poor compared with one in six adults, the report said.
-On December 27, 1992, the 19-year-old Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who had taken over as chairman of J&K Awami Action Committee (J&KAAC) and become the head priest of Kashmir after the assassination of his father Mirwaiz Farooq, called a meeting of religious, social and political organisations at Mirwaiz Manzil. The aim of this meeting was to lay the foundation of a broad alliance of parties that were opposed to “Indian rule” in J&K. Seven months later, the APHC was born, with Mirwaiz Umar Farooq as its first chairman.
+[[Category:Development|P
+POVERTY: INDIA]]
+[[Category:Economy-Industry-Resources|P
+POVERTY: INDIA]]
+[[Category:India|P
+POVERTY: INDIA]]
+[[Category:Name|ALPHABET
+POVERTY: INDIA]]
-The APHC executive council had seven members from seven executive parties: Syed Ali Shah Geelani of Jamat-e-Islami, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq of Awami Action Committee, Sheikh Abdul Aziz of People’s League, Moulvi Abbas Ansari of Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen, Prof Abdul Gani Bhat of Muslim Conference, Yasin Malik of JKLF, and Abdul Gani Lone of People’s Conference.
+[[Category:Development|PPOVERTY: INDIA
+POVERTY: INDIA]]
+[[Category:Economy-Industry-Resources|PPOVERTY: INDIA
+POVERTY: INDIA]]
+[[Category:India|PPOVERTY: INDIA
+POVERTY: INDIA]]
+[[Category:Name|ALPHABETPOVERTY: INDIA
+POVERTY: INDIA]]
-Of these leaders, Sheikh Aziz was killed in police firing near Sheri in Baramulla in August 2008. Abdul Gani Lone was killed by militants in May 2002.
+=Decline in 2011-12: I=
+Odisha, Bihar show biggest drop in percentage of poor
-The Hurriyat also had a 21-member working committee. This included the seven members of the executive council, plus two members from each of the seven parties.
+Mahendra Singh, TNN | Jul 24, 2013
-There was also a general council, with more than 23 members, including traders’ bodies, employee unions, and social organisations. The membership of the executive council couldn’t be increased as per the APHC constitution, but the general council could accommodate more members. The Hurriyat had observer status at the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).
+[http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Odisha-Bihar-show-biggest-drop-in-percentage-of-poor/articleshow/21286897.cms The Times of India]
-''' The Battle Within '''
+=== Odisha and Bihar===
+Odisha and Bihar have registered the sharpest decline in poverty levels between 2004-05 and 2011-12, although the proportion of the poor in these states remains well above the national average.
-Because the Hurriyat was such a mixed bag of ideologies and personalities, infighting was a near permanent feature. Disagreements often came out in the open.
+Latest data released on Tuesday revealed that in Odisha, the proportion of people below the poverty line (BPL) in total population came down from 57.2% in 2004-05 to 32.6% in 2011-12, a decline of 24.6 percentage points.
-In September 2003, the Hurriyat split on the questions of its future strategies, the role of militancy in the separatist movement, and dialogue. The Syed Ali Shah Geelani-led group was firm that talks with New Delhi could take place only after the central government accepted that J&K was in dispute, while the group led by Mirwaiz wanted talks.
+In Bihar, which logged the fastest growth rate during the 11th five-year plan (2007-12), the share of BPL in total population was estimated at 33.7% in 2011-12, compared to 54.4% in 2004-05, a reduction by 20.7 percentage points.
+=== All-India===
+At the all-India level, the share of the BPL population was estimated at 21.9%, which is almost 270 million. This means that roughly every fifth Indian lives below the poverty line. The government has set the bar low, defining anyone earning Rs 27.20 or less in rural areas as BPL, while those earning up to Rs 33.30 a day in urban areas are classified as poor, though these benchmarks vary from state to state.
+===Bimaru===
+Although things seem to looking up in the poor states, especially Bimaru, they still remain home to the maximum number of poor people in the country. While Uttar Pradesh has just under 30% of its population in the BPL group, the number adds up to almost 60 million. Bihar, despite the improvement, still has 35.8 million poor, and ranks second, followed by Madhya Pradesh where 23.4 million or 31.6% of the population is BPL.
+=== Rajasthan===
+Among the Bimaru states, only Rajasthan has managed to do better than the national average with the share of BPL in total population estimated at 14.7% in 2011-12, compared to 34.4% in 2004-05. In fact, the state now is a better performer than Gujarat, famed for its rapid growth and good infrastructure. The state ruled by Narendra Modi had 16.6% people below the poverty line.
+=== Rural India has seen faster improvement than urban centres===
+The other important trend coming from the latest poverty estimates, which have traditionally created controversy, is the fact that rural India has seen faster improvement than urban centres. The decline in poverty was steeper in rural areas as BPL population came down to 25.8% (2011-12) from 42% (2004-05), around 17 percentage points, as against around 12 percentage points in urban areas.
-Geelani hasn’t departed from his stance that “the struggle will continue till complete freedom” or a “referendum in accordance with UN resolutions”. The Mirwaiz group backed former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf’s four-point formula that envisaged suzerainty and a joint mechanism between the two parts of J&K, without changing any existing boundaries. The Mirwaiz group also entered into a dialogue directly with New Delhi during Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s tenure, and held talks with the then Deputy PM, L K Advani, in 2004.
+On an all-India basis, there were 217 million poor in rural areas and 53 million in urban areas in 2011-12, as against 326 million and 81 million, respectively, in 2004-05.
-The leaders of the Mirwaiz faction, along with Yasin Malik (who was no longer a part of Hurriyat by then), visited Pakistan through the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad road in June 2005 to hold talks with various Muzaffarabad-based Kashmiri separatist leaders and the Pakistan establishment. This visit was facilitated by the Vajpayee government, which had come up with Srinagar-Delhi, Delhi-Islamabad and Srinagar-Islamabad tracks as part of its Kashmir peace process.
+The final figures for 2011-12 are likely to be revised once a government-appointed committee under C Rangarajan submits its report on a new methodology for fixing the poverty line, but the Planning Commission in its press release pointed out that this would only change the numbers, not the declining trend.
-Though there were stark ideological differences within the two factions of the Hurriyat, the trigger for the split came on the question of fielding proxy candidates by a Hurriyat constituent, People’s Conference, in the 2002 Assembly polls. Geelani vehemently criticised the decision, and sought the eviction of the party led by Abdul Gani Lone’s sons, Bilal Lone and Sajjad Lone.
+= Decline in 2011-12: II =
+''This article contains many points given in the article above.''
-On September 7, 2003, the Geelani faction removed the then Hurriyat chairman, Abbas Ansari, and replaced him with Masarat Alam as interim chief. They also suspended the seven-member executive council, and set up a five-member committee to review the Hurriyat constitution.
+'''Poverty declines to 21.9% in 2011-12: Planning Commission'''
-Geelani also left the Jamaat-e-Islami, and formed his own party, the Tehreek-e-Hurriyat Jammu and Kashmir, in August 2004.
+According to the commission, in 2011-12 for rural areas, the national poverty line by using the Tendulkar methodology is estimated at Rs 816 per capita per month in villages and Rs 1,000 per capita per month in cities.
-The Mirwaiz faction split in 2014, when four of its leaders — Democratic Freedom Party president Shabir Ahmad Shah, National Front chairman Nayeem Ahmad Khan, Mahaz-e-Azadi chief Mohammad Azam Inqlabi and Islamic Political Party chief Mohammad Yousuf Naqash — left.
+PTI | Jul 23, 2013
-''' The Hurriyat Constitution '''
+[http://indpaedia.com/ind/index.php?title=Special:Search&limit=50&offset=20&redirs=1&profile=all&search=poverty The Times of India]
-The APHC constitution, describes it as a union of political, social and religious parties of the state of Jammu and Kashmir, set up to:
+NEW DELHI: Poverty ratio in the country has declined to 21.9% in 2011-12 from 37.2% in 2004-05 on account of increase in per capita consumption, Planning Commission said.
+===The  poverty ratio in 2011-12===
+The percentage of persons below poverty line in 2011-12 has been estimated at 25.7% in rural areas, 13.7% in urban areas and 21.9% for the country as a whole, a commission's press statement said.
-* Wage a peaceful struggle to secure for the people of Jammu and Kashmir in accordance with the UN charter and the resolutions adopted by the UN Security Council, the exercise of the right to self-determination, which shall include the right to independence.
+The percentage of persons below poverty line in 2004-05 was 41.8% in rural areas, 25.7% in cities and 37.2% in the country as a whole.
-* Make endeavours for an alternative negotiated settlement of the Kashmir dispute amongst all the three parties to the dispute — India, Pakistan and people of the Jammu and Kashmir — under the auspices of the UN or any other friendly country, provided that such settlement reflects the will of the people.
+In actual terms, there were 26.93 crore people below poverty line in 2011-12 as compared to 40.71 crore in 2004-05.
+=== Suresh Tendulkar committee’s methodology===
+This ratio for 2011-12 is based on the methodology suggested by Suresh Tendulkar committee which factors in money spent on health and education besides calorie intake to fix a poverty line.
-* Project the ongoing struggle in the state before nations and governments of the world in its proper perspective, as being a “struggle directed against the forcible and fraudulent occupation of the state by India”.
+The commission said the decline in poverty is mainly on account of rising real per capita consumption figures which is based on 68th round of National Sample Survey on household consumer expenditure in India in 2011-12.
-''' Relevance of Separatists '''
+Earlier, a committee was appointed under Prime Minister's economic advisory council chairman C Rangarajan to revisit the Tendulkar committee methodology for tabulating poverty.
-The separatist leadership across the ideological divide represents a major political constituency in J&K, which will likely remain relevant for as long as the issue is not resolved. This political reality on the ground can be understood by looking at the public political agendas of the two major pro-India political groups — the ruling People’s Democratic Party and the opposition National Conference. These two parties share the support of the largest chunk of the electorate that takes part in Assembly and Lok Sabha elections. While the NC seeks autonomy and a return to the 1953 position where New Delhi had authority only over Defence, Communications and Foreign Affairs, the PDP’s declared political agenda has been self-rule, wherein they seek autonomy, plus a joint mechanism between two parts of J&K to turn the region into a fusion of India and Pakistan.
+The committee is expected to submit its report by mid 2014.
-These political agendas, which are widely publicised during election campaigns, border on separatist politics. There is, in fact, very little difference between the larger political framework for the resolution of the Kashmir issue that is publicly envisaged by the Mirwaiz faction and the PDP. The difference is that the Mirwaiz group has not agreed to join the electoral battle prior to a solution.
+===Best and worst states===
+State-wise, the commission said the poverty ratio was highest in Chhattisgarh at 39.93% followed by Jharkhand (36.96%), Manipur (36.89%), Arunachal Pradesh (34.67%) and Bihar (33.47%).
-It is obvious that if the two major pro-India political groups seek votes for an agenda that seeks different degrees of separation from the Indian Union, the separatist political discourse remains relevant. Besides, there is an inherent flaw in an assessment that seeks to judge the relevance of separatist leaders by the same yardstick that is applied to leaders participating in electoral politics.
+Among the union territories, the Dadra and Nagar Haveli was the highest, with 39.31% people living below poverty line followed by Chandigarh at 21.81%.
-The separatists are relevant because of a sentiment, which is not voted on in any election. The other reason why they remain relevant is their utility to the state at times of crises. When Kashmir was up in arms during the public agitations from 2008-10, New Delhi sent high-level delegations to speak to the separatists in a bid to calm tempers.
+Goa has the least percentage of people living below poverty line at 5.09% followed by Kerala (7.05%), Himachal Pradesh (8.06%), Sikkim (8.19%), Punjab (8.26%) and Andhra Pradesh (9.20%).
-The fact that Pakistan considers the separatists as representatives of the people is also an important reason to think of them as relevant on the ground.
+==2011-12: BPL population==
+[http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com//Article.aspx?eid=31808&articlexml=STATOISTICS-BELOW-THE-LINE-20032015009009 ''The Times of India'']
-===PAK CONNECTION===
+[[File: poverty 2011 12a.jpg|2011-12: the number and percentage of population below the poverty line, Graphic courtesy: [http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com//Article.aspx?eid=31808&articlexml=STATOISTICS-BELOW-THE-LINE-20032015009009 ''The Times of India'']|frame|500px]]
+[[File: poverty 2011 12b.jpg|2011-12: the number and percentage of population below the poverty line, Graphic courtesy: [http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com//Article.aspx?eid=31808&articlexml=STATOISTICS-BELOW-THE-LINE-20032015009009 ''The Times of India'']|frame|500px]]
-New Delhi drew the red line on Islamabad talking to the Hurriyat in August 2014, and reiterated its position this month. However, Pakistani officials have been talking to the separatists around the time of India-Pak dialogues for 20 years now MAY 1995: Pakistan’s President Farooq Ahmad Leghari met separatist leaders in New Delhi when he came to attend the SAARC meeting. It was Leghari who began the tradition of meeting the separatists.
+Mar 20 2015
-JULY 2001: General Pervez Musharraf met separatist leaders in New Delhi before the Agra summit with Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee
+There are two ways to measure poverty--relative and absolute. Poverty estimates in advanced economies are based on the calculation of relative poverty, with the average standard of living used as the reference point. People are counted as poor if they cannot maintain this level. In India, poverty is estimated at absolute level or the minimum money required for subsistence. The poverty line is defined as the minimum money required for maintaining a per capita caloric intake of 2,100 calories in an urban area and 2,400 calories in a rural area. These estimates are done by analysing monthly per capita expenditure baskets of NSSO surveys.By this methodology, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and Bihar have the highest proportion of BPL persons in the latest estimates.
-APRIL 2005: President Pervez Musharraf again met separatist leaders from Kashmir in New Delhi
+=2011-12: Rangarajan panel's estimate: III=
+''' 3 out of 10 in India are poor: Rangarajan panel '''
-APRIL 2007: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz met separatist leaders at Pakistan House on his visit to New Delhi. Aziz visited India as head of SAARC, and also had a separate meeting with Prime minister Manmohan Singh.
+[http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/3-out-of-10-in-India-are-poor-Rangarajan-panel/articleshow/37913421.cms  PTI] | Jul 6, 2014
-JULY 2011: Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar met delegations led by Hurriyat leaders Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq at the Pakistan High Commission. Khar was on a visit to New Delhi to meet her Indian counterpart S M Krishna
+The Rangarajan committee was set up in 2013 to review the Tendulkar committee methodology for estimating poverty and clear the ambiguity over the number of poor in the country.
-NOVEMBER 2013: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s Advisor on Security and Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz met with Kashmiri separatist leaders at the Pakistan High Commission
+NEW DELHI: A panel headed by former Prime Ministers economic advisory council chairman C Rangarajan has dismissed the Tendulkar committee report on estimating poverty and said that the number of poor in India was much higher in 2011-12 at 29.5 per cent of the population, which means that three out of 10 people are poor.
-===The Hurriyat Top Three ===
+As per the report submitted by Rangarajan to planning minister Rao Inderjit Singh earlier, persons spending below Rs 47 a day in cities would be considered poor, much above the Rs 33-per-day mark suggested by the Suresh Tendulkar committee.
-'''  Syed Ali Shah Geelani '''
+As per the Rangarajan panel estimates, poverty stood at 38.2 per cent in 2009-10 and slided to 29.5 per cent in 2011-12.
-Veteran hardliner faces challenge from a harder line
+This is at variance with the Tendulkar methodology under which poverty was estimated at 29.8 per cent in 2009-10 and declined to 21.9 per cent in 2011-12.
-The octogenarian Geelani is the most prominent public face of the separatist struggle in Kashmir. Geelani was a primary school teacher employed by the J&K education department when he became a member of Jamat-e-Islami in 1959. Thirteen years later, he contested the 1972 Assembly elections from his home constituency Sopore, and won. He was re-elected to the Assembly in 1977 as a Jamat-e-Islami candidate.
+The Planning Commission's estimates based on Tendulkar committee had drawn flak in September 2011, when in an affidavit to the Supreme Court it was stated that households with per capita consumption of more than Rs 33 in urban areas and Rs 27 in rural areas would not be treated as poor.
-In 1987, Geelani was instrumental in bringing together the Jamat-e-Islami and several other social and religious outfits in the Muslim United Front, which fought the elections. It is widely believed that the elections were massively rigged and triggered armed militancy in Kashmir, Geelani managed to win for the third time.
+The Rangarajan committee was set up last year to review the Tendulkar committee methodology for estimating poverty and clear the ambiguity over the number of poor in the country.
+As per Rangarajan panel estimates, a person spending less than Rs 1,407 a month (Rs 47/day) would be considered poor in cities, as against the Tendulkar Committee's suggestion of Rs 1,000 a month (Rs 33/day).
-After the armed resistance began in 1989, Geelani resigned from the Assembly and took a lead role in separatist politics. When the Hurriyat was formed, he became its member, and later its chairman.
+In villages, those spending less than Rs 972 a month (Rs 32/day) would be considered poor. This is much higher than Rs 816 a month (Rs 27/day) recommended by Tendulkar Committee.
-In 2002, when Mufti Mohammad Sayeed became Chief Minister, Geelani was in jail. On his release, he accused People’s Conference leader Sajjad Lone of fielding proxy candidates in the Assembly elections, and called for his expulsion from the Hurriyat. When the Hurriyat didn’t accept his demand, Geelani broke away and formed his own faction. A few months later, he divorced the Jamaat-e-Islami, his organisation for 45 years, to form the Tehreek-e-Hurriyat.
+In absolute terms, the number of poor in India stood at 36.3 crore in 2011-12, down from 45.4 crore in 2009-10, as per the Rangarajan panel.
-Though an ardent supporter of Pakistan, Geelani vehemently opposed President Musharraf’s four-point formula for resolution of the Kashmir issue, calling it “surrender”. At that time, the Mirwaiz faction was favoured by both India and Pakistan, who gave it the central role in Kashmir. By 2008, however, the Hurriyat moderates were marginalised, as they failed to deliver on the ground.
+Tendulkar Committee, however, had suggested that the number of poor was 35.4 crore in 2009-10 and 26.9 crore in 2011-12.
+==II==
+''' New poverty line: Rs 32 per day in villages, Rs 47 in cities '''
-A heart patient who lives on a pacemaker and a malignant kidney, Geelani started to re-emerge as an important leader in 2008, when he launched an agitation opposing the transfer of government land to the Amarnath shrine board. The agitation was repeated in 2010.
+Mahendra Kumar Singh
+New Delhi:
-Geelani’s strength is seen in his successful mix of a “consistent and uncompromising political stance on Kashmir” and organised street resistance. With his Jamaat background, religion is an important part of Geelani’s worldview and politics. He also enjoys substantial influence over the militant movement.
+TNN
+[[File: Poverty2.jpg| |frame| 500px]]
-For the first time in decades, it now seems Geelani’s authority has come into question from the new breed of militants with more hardline views. Geelani has been publicly critical of the ISIS and its methods, and has questioned the wisdom behind a group of Kashmiri youths raising Daesh flags during protests in Srinagar. Geelani had earlier opposed the entry of al-Qaeda into Kashmir.
+[http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/Article.aspx?eid=31808&articlexml=New-poverty-line-Rs-32-per-day-in-07072014001051   ''The Times of India''] Jul 07 2014
-'''  Mirwaiz Umar Farooq '''
+Rangarajan Panel Puts Number Of Poor At 363m
-Chief cleric of Kashmir prefers negotiations
+Those spending over Rs 32 a day in rural areas and Rs 47 in towns and cities should not be considered poor, an expert panel headed by former RBI governor C Rangarajan said in a report submitted to the BJP government last week.
-Kashmir’s head priest carries a great deal of weight on his young shoulders. The head preacher of Jamia Masjid, Srinagar, Umar was anointed the head of the Awami Action Committee (AAC), a constituent of the Hurriyat, at just 17, after the assassination of his father, Mirwaiz Mohammad Farooq, in May 1991. Considered a moderate, Umar favours resolution of the Kashmir issue through peaceful negotiations. Though he has never denounced the armed struggle, he maintains a safe distance from militant groups. Though the AAC was once considered pro-Pakistan, Umar has preferred to remain non-committal on whether he supports accession to Pakistan or independence.
+The recommendation, which comes just ahead of the budget session of Parliament, is expected to generate fresh debate over the poverty measure as the committee's report has only raised the bar marginally . Based on the Suresh Tendulkar panel's recommendations in 2011 12, the poverty line had been fixed at Rs 27 in rural areas and Rs 33 in urban areas, levels at which getting two meals may be difficult.
-'''  Yasin Malik '''
+The Rangarajan committee was tasked with revisiting the Tendulkar formula for estimation of poverty and identification of the poor after a massive public outcry erupted over the ab normally low poverty lines fixed by UPA government.
-Militant commander turned non-violent activist
+The panel's recommendation, however, results in an increase in the below poverty line population, estimated at 363 million in 2011-12, compared with the 270 million estimate based on the Tendulkar formula -a rise of 35%. This means 29.5% of InT dia's population lives below the poverty line as defined by the Rangarajan committee, as against 21.9% according to Tendulkar. For 2009-10, Rangarajan has estimated that the share of BPL group in total population was 38.2%, translating into a decline in poverty ratio by 8.7 percentage points over a twoyear period.
-From a top commander and pioneer of the militant movement in Kashmir, Yasin Malik has come a long way. He gave up arms and decided to follow the path of non-violence as the only means of struggle.
+The real change is in urban areas where the BPL number is projected to have nearly doubled to 102.5 million based on Rangarajan's estimates, compared to 53 million based on the previous committee's recommendations. So, based on the new measure, in 2011-12, 26.4% of the people living in urban areas were BPL, compared to 35.1% in 2009-10.
-Yasin Malik was one among the several Kashmiri youth who crossed to Pakistan in the late 80s for arms training. In fact, he was one among four area commanders, the others being Hamid Sheikh, Ashfaq Ajid and Javid Mir. The ‘HAJY’ group, as it was known, was allegedly tortured in police custody for its support to Muslim United Front (MUF) candidate Mohammad Yousuf Shah in the 1987 elections. Mohammad Yousuf Shah, of course, is now better known as Syed Salahuddin, chief of the Hizbul Mujahideen. Malik’s stint as a militant was short-lived — in 1991, he was arrested and jailed for three-and-a-half years.
+In case of rural areas, the rise is of the order of 20% to 260.5 million, compared to around 217 million based on the Tendulkar formula. Rang arajan's estimates would put the BPL share of total population in rural areas at 30.9%, compared to 39.6% in 2009-10.
-After his release on May 17, 1994, Malik changed his ways and became an ardent advocate of non-violence. He is now in favour of a negotiated settlement of the Kashmir issue, but not until Kashmiris get a place on the Indo-Pak bilateral table.
+Documents accessed by TOI show that the Rangarajan panel has suggested to the government that those spending more than Rs 972 a month in rural areas and Rs 1,407 a month in urban areas in 2011-12 do not fall under the definition of poverty .
-=1994-2017=
+If calculated on a daily basis, this translates into a per capita expenditure of Rs 32 per day in rural areas and Rs 47 per day in urban areas in 2011-12.
-Syed Ata Hasnain | After the attack on the Amarnath Yatra: Why Meghnad Desai is both right and wrong on Kashmir | Jul 20 2017 | The Times of India (Delhi)
-[[File: From 2010-2016 , India Today , July 25,2016 .jpg| From 2010-2016 , India Today , [https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/nation/story/20160725-burhan-wani-killed-jammu-and-kashmir-protests-829235-2016-07-13 Asit Jolly and Naseer Ganai , A rebellion goes viral “India Today” 25/7/2016] |frame|500px]]
-The writer commanded the 15 Corps in Jammu & Kashmir
+=Decline in 2018=
-and 1996 were political high water marks with the Joint Resolution of Parliament and the first elections after 1989, respectively. 1997 was the humanitarian landmark with the adoption of Operation Sadbhavana and the Supreme Court's issue of guidelines to the army on operations under AFSPA.
+== South and east lead; central India worst off==
+[[File: 2018, Poverty decline most in south and east India, and the least in central India.jpg|2018: Poverty decline most in south and east India, and the least in central India. <br/> From: [https://epaper.timesgroup.com/Olive/ODN/TimesOfIndia/shared/ShowArticle.aspx?doc=TOIDEL%2F2019%2F04%2F24&entity=Ar00201&sk=91204612&mode=image April 24, 2019: ''The Times of India'']|frame|500px]]
-saw the adoption of the healing touch policy of the late Mufti Mohammad Sayeed in conjunction with Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's philosophical and humanitarian approach. 2611 saw the re-adoption of a hard line by Pakistan, leading to the paralysis in the streets till 2010. 2011-13 saw the conscious calibration of the balance of hard and soft power through the Hearts Doctrine which created hope and attempted restoration of dignity to the conflict stricken people, incidentally by the army itself; a situation not politically exploited.
-There was nothing militaristic about 2014-16 either; it was a situation of political uncertainty.No doubt violence increased, but not so dangerously until July 8, 2016, when Burhan Wani was killed and the current impasse came to be.
+''' See graphic ''' :
-The [2017] attack on the Amarnath Yatra after 15 years of peace may actually prove to be another landmark in the history of J&K since 1989
+'' 2018: Poverty decline most in south and east India, and the least in central India. ''
-=Tunnels, strategic=
+[[Category:Development|PPOVERTY: INDIAPOVERTY: INDIA
-==2010-2020==
+POVERTY: INDIA]]
-[[File: Strategic Tunnels in Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh-HP, 2010-2020..jpg| Strategic Tunnels in Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh-HP, 2010-2020. <br/> From: [https://epaper.timesgroup.com/Olive/ODN/TimesOfIndia/shared/ShowArticle.aspx?doc=TOIDEL%2F2020%2F10%2F04&entity=Ar00508&sk=42059AF1&mode=text  Akhilesh Singh, Anand Bodh & Suresh Sharma, October 4, 2020: ''The Times of India'']|frame|500px]]
+[[Category:Economy-Industry-Resources|PPOVERTY: INDIAPOVERTY: INDIA
+POVERTY: INDIA]]
+[[Category:India|PPOVERTY: INDIAPOVERTY: INDIA
+POVERTY: INDIA]]
+[[Category:Name|ALPHABETPOVERTY: INDIAPOVERTY: INDIA
+POVERTY: INDIA]]
+=2017-18=
+==World Data Lab estimates==
+[https://epaper.timesgroup.com/Olive/ODN/TimesOfIndia/shared/ShowArticle.aspx?doc=TOIDEL%2F2019%2F01%2F27&entity=Ar00101&sk=4B00242E&mode=text  Surojit Gupta, New data may show big cut in no. of poor, January 27, 2019: ''The Times of India'']
-'''See graphic''':
+[[File: 2017-18- the extent by which poverty might have fallen in India.jpg|2017-18: the extent by which poverty might have fallen in India <br/> From: [https://epaper.timesgroup.com/Olive/ODN/TimesOfIndia/shared/ShowArticle.aspx?doc=TOIDEL%2F2019%2F01%2F27&entity=Ar00101&sk=4B00242E&mode=text  Surojit Gupta, New data may show big cut in no. of poor, January 27, 2019: ''The Times of India'']|frame|500px]]
-'' Strategic Tunnels in Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh-HP, 2010-2020. ''
+''Fresh Govt Numbers To Be Out In June''
-[[Category:History|J JAMMU & KASHMIR, HISTORY: 1989-JAMMU & KASHMIR, HISTORY: 1989-JAMMU & KASHMIR, HISTORY: 1989-
+India may have reduced extreme poverty far more effectively than most of us are aware of. The last official data is eight years old. In 2011, 268 million were surviving on less than $1.90 a day, the World Bank measure for extreme poverty. The next round of data on household consumption is likely to come out in June, and it may well show a drastic drop in the number of poor.
-JAMMU & KASHMIR, HISTORY: 1989-]]
-[[Category:India|J JAMMU & KASHMIR, HISTORY: 1989-JAMMU & KASHMIR, HISTORY: 1989-JAMMU & KASHMIR, HISTORY: 1989-
-JAMMU & KASHMIR, HISTORY: 1989-]]
-[[Category:Jammu & Kashmir|J JAMMU & KASHMIR, HISTORY: 1989-JAMMU & KASHMIR, HISTORY: 1989-JAMMU & KASHMIR, HISTORY: 1989-
-JAMMU & KASHMIR, HISTORY: 1989-]]
-[[Category:Politics|J JAMMU & KASHMIR, HISTORY: 1989-JAMMU & KASHMIR, HISTORY: 1989-JAMMU & KASHMIR, HISTORY: 1989-
-JAMMU & KASHMIR, HISTORY: 1989-]]
-=2014-July 2016: Lions in hibernation wake up, Burhan becomes icon=
+India’s chief statistician Pravin Srivastava told TOI that data will be published in June. Poverty estimates are derived from household consumption data. According to the World Data Lab, which monitors global poverty using advanced statistical models, less than 50 million Indians may be living on less than $1.90 a day now.
-[http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/Article.aspx?eid=31808&articlexml=Mehbooba-Muftis-inheritance-of-loss-How-Burhan-Wani-30072016022035 By Ahmed Ali Fayyaz, ''The Times of India''], Jul 30 2016
-[[File: People killed post 8th July 2016, India Today , September 1,2016 .jpg| People killed post 8th July 2016, India Today , September 1,2016 |frame|500px]]
-'' Mehbooba Mufti's inheritance of loss: How Burhan Wani grew to iconic status in the Valley ''
-Burhan Wani, the 23-year-old Hizbul Mujahideen militant cutting his teeth with India's glamorous social media, achieved what only the charismatic Sheikh Abdullah had to his credit in Kashmir's history  a sizeable swarm of people at his funeral prayers, anything between the army's drone figure of 15,000 and some journalists' 2,00,000. Over a million had joined the Sheikh's in 1982  by far the largest. Many of the 48 youths killed in the clashes triggered by the July 8 encounter died on the day of the funeral.
+“The soon-to-be-largest country in the world has been reducing extreme poverty fast and the world may have underestimated India’s achievements,” a report by thinktank Brookings said.
-Funerals of even the iconic militants and separatists have been invariably ignored as their charm faded out the same day .Some pulled a thousand, someone even five or ten thousand. In 20 years, Kashmir has witnessed two massive funerals: around 20,000 attended Mustafa Khan's during Farooq Abdullah's regime in Tangmarg and around 30,000 Badshah Khan's in Kulgam when Mufti Sayeed was chief minister.
-It didn't take Kashmiris long to forget even top separatist leaders Abdul Gani Lone and Sheikh Abdul Aziz  one shot dead by gunmen in Srinagar in 2002 and another killed in security forces' firing in Baramulla in 2008. Masarat Alam, unparalleled protagonist of the 2010 street turbulence faded into oblivion within days of his arrest. More significantly, nobody died for high profile separatist Afzal Guru whose execution in 2013 was “murder of an innocent“ for the average Kashmiri.
+''' ‘Poverty has declined in India since 2004-05’ '''
-So what made Burhan a legend whose death triggered a chain of clashes and left around 50 people dead, hundreds injured and a bustling tourist season that has already suffered losses of hundreds of crores of rupees punctured?
+India’s last household survey of 2017/18 (to be released in 2019) captures household consumption more comprehensively — it will include an adjustment for owner-occupied housing and measure other items in accordance with international practices,” a report by thinktank Brookings said.
-'''Mufti M. Saeed'''  After the Sheikh's dismissal in 1953 and his successor Farooq Abdullah's in 1984, no J&K politician has embarrassed New Delhi beyond a point. Mufti alone, who cultivated Congress and floated his own PDP to neutralise Sheikh's National Conference (NC), took liberties. His detractors insist he had Delhi's “licence“ that eventually made him the only Muslim home minister.
+Economists said rapid economic growth and the use of technology for social sector programmes have helped make a significant dent in extreme poverty in the country. “As such there has been a decline in poverty for quite some time. Since 2004-05 there is a sustained decline in extreme poverty,” said N R Bhanumurthy, professor at the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy.
-His brief tenure as Union home minister witnessed a fringe insurgency explode with the release of JKLF militants in exchange for his kidnapped daughter Rubaiya in 1989, followed by Kashmiri Pandits' mass migration in 1990. His outcry over the Ghulam Nabi Azad government's allotment of land to a Hindu shrine board divided people irretrievably on regional and communal lines in ''' 2008, ''' when secessionism had ebbed and the Valley was blooming with tranquillity .
+=India vis-a-vis other countries=
+==8 Indian states poorer than Africa’s 26 poorest==
-With a mission to demolish Abdullah's NC, Mufti and daughter Mehbooba left no stone unturned to discredit and demonise `India'  its body politic, democracy , systems and institutions. With both UPA's and NDA's unfettered permission, he laid the `road to Rawalpindi'. It won him a chunk of votes and helped him become chief minister twice, but at a price Delhi will have to pay for ages.
+[http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Client.asp?Daily=CAP&showST=true&login=default&pub=TOI&Enter=true&Skin=TOINEW&AW=1393708348876  Times of  India]
-For over a decade Mufti and his party only whetted the sense of victimhood and betrayal in the Valley which, in the process, grew rabidly anti-Indian  some of them ferociously Islamist.Omar Abdullah's deficits of domicile, language and culture forced him to toe Mufti's line and both, in competition, began discrediting “Indians“.
-At the end of the day , nobody in Kashmir respects or loves India. Anybody perceived to be soft on India runs huge risks, such as those meted out to the residents of Kokernag after the July 8 encounter. Their houses were torched and orchards destroyed. The government remained a mute spectator.
+London: Eight Indian states, including Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, together account for more poor people than the 26 poorest African nations combined, a new ‘‘multidimensional’’ measure of global poverty has said.
-The irony is that Kashmir was pushed back to the abyss when complaints of rape, custodial killings and fake encounters against the security forces had dipped to the lowest level of 25 years and India's best held assembly elections had happened in J&K in 2014.Nobody knew Burhan who was then three years into militancy.
+The Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) was developed and applied by the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) with UNDP support and will feature in the forthcoming 20th anniversary edition of the UNDP Human Development Report due late October. The MPI, which supplants the Human Poverty Index, assesses a range of critical factors or ‘‘deprivations’’ at the household level: from education to health outcomes to assets and services.
-But Mufti didn't wait much to ride the tiger. He freed Masarat and permitted him to hold a massive pro-Pakistan demonstration in front of J&K police headquarters. It woke up all the lions in hibernation. Within days a young school dropout emerged as an icon of jihad for Kashmir's Generation Next.
+An analysis by MPI creators reveals that there are more ‘MPI poor’ people in eight Indian states (42.1 crore in Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal) than in the 26 poorest African countries combined (41 crore).
-Meanwhile, Mufti's ally continued to stoke fires. A frenzied group of cow vigilantes killed a Kashmiri Muslim trucker in Udhampur. BJP leaders and friends filed petitions to terminate the state's flag and special position. The tinderbox needed just a matchstick that came in handy with Burhan's death.
+In fact, according to the new measure that includes key services such as water, sanitation and electricity, half of the world’s poor live in South Asia (51% or 84.4 crore) and one quarter in Africa (28% or 45.8 crore).
-''The writer is a senior journalist ''
+Niger has the greatest intensity and incidence of poverty in any country, with 93% of its population classified as poor in MPI terms.
-[[Category:India |J ]]
+AGENCIES
-[[Category:Jammu & Kashmir |J ]]
+Deprivation Count
+crore poor in Bihar, Jharkhand, UP, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Rajasthan and West Bengal compared to 41 crore in 26 of Africa’s poorest countries
+Half of world’s poor (48.4cr) live in south Asia, a quarter in Africa (45.8crore), says new Multi-dimensional Poverty Index
+Of 104 countries surveyed (5.2bn people in all), 1.7bn live in poverty
-== Aftermath ==
+==2017: the share of India, China in the world’s poor==
-[http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/yadav-family-fued-virat-kohli-baba-ramdev-mamata-banerjee/1/845227.html Shougat Dasgupta Asit Jolly MG Arun Damayanti Datta , Behind the headlines “India Today” 29/12/2016]
+[http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/Article.aspx?eid=31808&articlexml=NEW-LINES-BUT-INDIA-STILL-HOME-TO-BIGGEST-02112017011019  NEW LINES, BUT INDIA STILL HOME TO BIGGEST CHUNK OF GLOBAL POOR, November 2, 2017: The Times of India]
-[[File: Insha Malik blinded by pellet gun , India Today , December 29.2016 .jpg| Insha Malik blinded by pellet gun , India Today , December 29.2016 |frame|500px]]
+[[File: Poverty line, PPP$ per hour, India vis-à-vis China.jpg|Poverty line, PPP$ per hour, India vis-à-vis China <br/> From: [http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/Article.aspx?eid=31808&articlexml=NEW-LINES-BUT-INDIA-STILL-HOME-TO-BIGGEST-02112017011019  NEW LINES, BUT INDIA STILL HOME TO BIGGEST CHUNK OF GLOBAL POOR, November 2, 2017: The Times of India]|frame|500px]]
-My Dear Insha,
-I was there when they carried you in with a bloodied face. Surgeons who cleaned your terrible wounds at Srinagar's Shri Maharaja Hari Singh (SMHS) Hospital said, "her face was like a sieve that had been used to filter blood". Earlier that July morning, you had sat terrified, huddled with other relatives in a first-floor room in your father's modest, two-storied home in Shopian's Sewdow village. Your parents believed you'd be safe from the fury on the street down below where police and paramilitary soldiers battled a mob of angry youngsters-some among them as young as 11, some of them your own classmates-protesting the killing of the Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani on July 8. But clearly, there was no place safe from the violence outside, the gunshots, the exploding canisters of teargas and fiery slogans. Suddenly, a window close to where you sat shattered. "I heard Insha wail and saw blood flowing from her face?her eyes. She fell down on the floor," Afroza Malik, your mother, said recalling her worst nightmare-become-real. Your eyes, face and torso were riddled with pellets from a pump-action shotgun fired, inexplicably, at the first-floor window. The good doctors, first at the SMHS Hospital in Srinagar and later at the nation's best, Delhi's All India Institute of Medical Sciences, kept you alive, helping you battle a series of complications including a brief brain infection from the lead pellets embedded inside your skull. The physical pain you still suffer will ebb with time. But the doctors have said they can do nothing that would help return your eyesight: "Nothing short of a miracle from God himself can give Insha Malik her beautiful eyes back," they said, evidently burdened by the pain of the terrible truth-that you will never again be able to see the beautiful Valley that is your home.
+In November 2017, the World Bank has started reporting poverty rates for all countries using two new international poverty lines: a lower middle-income line, set at $3.20 per day, and an upper middle-income line, set at $5.50 per day. These are in addition to the main poverty line of $1.90 per day. The new lines are supposed to serve two purposes. One, they account for the fact that “achieving the same set of capabilities may need a different set of goods and services in different countries“ and, specifically, a costlier set in richer countries. Second, “they allow for cross-country comparisons and benchmarking both within and across developing regions“.Using the $1.90 line, the incidence of poverty in lower middle-income countries is 15.5%, as against 45.8% in low-income countries. However, using the $3.20 line, 46.7% of the population of lower middle-income countries is poor. Similarly, for upper middle-income countries, the proportion of the poor at $1.90 is just 2.3%, but at $ 5.50 it is 29.2%.
-"It's a fate worse than death. Worse than an AK-47 bullet through the skull," said a surgeon responsible for admitting young and older victims of this latest cycle of strife, one that completely changed life as we had known it until July 8 in the Kashmir Valley. Seventy-five people, many of them teenagers like you, have been killed (local media reports claim 97 dead). Thousands more have sustained injuries, including scores, who like you, have been wholly or partially blinded by pellet guns. The doctors at the SMHS Hospital talk of Omar Nazir, a diminutive 12-year-old school-going son of a daily wage worker of Pulwama called Nazir Ahmad. Unmoving on his hospital bed, he too had lost both his eyes. Tamanna Ashiq, just eight years old, was perhaps more fortunate. Struck similarly in the face by a deadly volley of shotgun pellets when she peered out the window of her village home to watch a protest demonstration on July 9, a day after Burhan's killing. A pellet lodged deep inside her right eye destroyed the retina but the schoolgirl still has one good eye.
+==2016-18: India’s international position improves==
+[https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/india-no-longer-home-to-the-largest-no-of-poor-study/articleshow/64754988.cms  June 27, 2018: ''The Times of India'']
+[[File: Congo, India and Nigeria- No. of people living in extreme poverty, 2016-18.jpg|Congo, India and Nigeria- No. of people living in extreme poverty, 2016-18 <br/> From: [https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/india-no-longer-home-to-the-largest-no-of-poor-study/articleshow/64754988.cms  June 27, 2018: ''The Times of India'']|frame|500px]]
-Nudged equally by the curfew ordered by the Mehbooba Mufti government and an unremitting calendar of hartals called by Syed Ali Shah Geelani as well as the Hurriyat hardliners, trouble persisted right until the Durbar (state government) packed its bags and shifted shop to Jammu for the winter in early November. In October, 12-year-old Junaid Akhoon of Saidpora in downtown Srinagar died. He fell to a hail of pellets fired by security personnel intent on dispersing a small crowd of protesters. Young Junaid's killing; the four-year-old girl with her legs and abdomen riddled by what she believes were "firecrackers"; the loss of Omar Nazir and Tamanna Ashiq's young eyes; and your own completely undeserved fate, Insha, are a distressing reminder of how children have fallen victim to the cycle of violent strife that simply won't leave the Kashmir Valley.
-Strife that is driven by a dangerously swelling sense of alienation and resentment that rankles every Kashmiri today-a feeling engendered by the mainstream Kashmiri political leadership and Delhi's collective failure to resolve the Kashmir issue. An anger that is preyed upon and fanned by obdurate Hurriyat hardliners like Geelani, who give little thought to the people they profess to speak for; who think little of paralysing the lives and livelihoods of an entire population; men who, for close to six long months, condemned Kashmir to a life of unending darkness; men who think nothing of shutting down schools and denying children the simple pleasure of stepping out of their homes to play.
-Children like you, Insha, and in fact close to 40 per cent of all Kashmiris-born after 1989-have no notion of what it is to live in peace. You have no experience of life without the discomforting presence of khaki uniforms, camouflaged fatigues, jackboots and Kalashnikovs.
-You cannot see it, but this is the greatest wound.
-Yours in empathy,
-Asit Jolly
-(To all the children of Kashmir who lost their innocence, blinded and bruised in the summer of 2016)
-=2014-July 2016: Lions in hibernation wake up, Burhan becomes icon=
-[http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/Article.aspx?eid=31808&articlexml=Mehbooba-Muftis-inheritance-of-loss-How-Burhan-Wani-30072016022035 By Ahmed Ali Fayyaz, ''The Times of India''], Jul 30 2016
-[[File: People killed post 8th July 2016, India Today , September 1,2016 .jpg| People killed post 8th July 2016, India Today , September 1,2016 |frame|500px]]
-'' Mehbooba Mufti's inheritance of loss: How Burhan Wani grew to iconic status in the Valley ''
-Burhan Wani, the 23-year-old Hizbul Mujahideen militant cutting his teeth with India's glamorous social media, achieved what only the charismatic Sheikh Abdullah had to his credit in Kashmir's history  a sizeable swarm of people at his funeral prayers, anything between the army's drone figure of 15,000 and some journalists' 2,00,000. Over a million had joined the Sheikh's in 1982  by far the largest. Many of the 48 youths killed in the clashes triggered by the July 8 encounter died on the day of the funeral.
-Funerals of even the iconic militants and separatists have been invariably ignored as their charm faded out the same day .Some pulled a thousand, someone even five or ten thousand. In 20 years, Kashmir has witnessed two massive funerals: around 20,000 attended Mustafa Khan's during Farooq Abdullah's regime in Tangmarg and around 30,000 Badshah Khan's in Kulgam when Mufti Sayeed was chief minister.
-It didn't take Kashmiris long to forget even top separatist leaders Abdul Gani Lone and Sheikh Abdul Aziz  one shot dead by gunmen in Srinagar in 2002 and another killed in security forces' firing in Baramulla in 2008. Masarat Alam, unparalleled protagonist of the 2010 street turbulence faded into oblivion within days of his arrest. More significantly, nobody died for high profile separatist Afzal Guru whose execution in 2013 was “murder of an innocent“ for the average Kashmiri.
-So what made Burhan a legend whose death triggered a chain of clashes and left around 50 people dead, hundreds injured and a bustling tourist season that has already suffered losses of hundreds of crores of rupees punctured?
-'''Mufti M. Saeed'''  After the Sheikh's dismissal in 1953 and his successor Farooq Abdullah's in 1984, no J&K politician has embarrassed New Delhi beyond a point. Mufti alone, who cultivated Congress and floated his own PDP to neutralise Sheikh's National Conference (NC), took liberties. His detractors insist he had Delhi's “licence“ that eventually made him the only Muslim home minister.
-His brief tenure as Union home minister witnessed a fringe insurgency explode with the release of JKLF militants in exchange for his kidnapped daughter Rubaiya in 1989, followed by Kashmiri Pandits' mass migration in 1990. His outcry over the Ghulam Nabi Azad government's allotment of land to a Hindu shrine board divided people irretrievably on regional and communal lines in ''' 2008, ''' when secessionism had ebbed and the Valley was blooming with tranquillity .
-With a mission to demolish Abdullah's NC, Mufti and daughter Mehbooba left no stone unturned to discredit and demonise `India'  its body politic, democracy , systems and institutions. With both UPA's and NDA's unfettered permission, he laid the `road to Rawalpindi'. It won him a chunk of votes and helped him become chief minister twice, but at a price Delhi will have to pay for ages.
-For over a decade Mufti and his party only whetted the sense of victimhood and betrayal in the Valley which, in the process, grew rabidly anti-Indian  some of them ferociously Islamist.Omar Abdullah's deficits of domicile, language and culture forced him to toe Mufti's line and both, in competition, began discrediting “Indians“.
-At the end of the day , nobody in Kashmir respects or loves India. Anybody perceived to be soft on India runs huge risks, such as those meted out to the residents of Kokernag after the July 8 encounter. Their houses were torched and orchards destroyed. The government remained a mute spectator.
-The irony is that Kashmir was pushed back to the abyss when complaints of rape, custodial killings and fake encounters against the security forces had dipped to the lowest level of 25 years and India's best held assembly elections had happened in J&K in 2014.Nobody knew Burhan who was then three years into militancy.
-But Mufti didn't wait much to ride the tiger. He freed Masarat and permitted him to hold a massive pro-Pakistan demonstration in front of J&K police headquarters. It woke up all the lions in hibernation. Within days a young school dropout emerged as an icon of jihad for Kashmir's Generation Next.
-Meanwhile, Mufti's ally continued to stoke fires. A frenzied group of cow vigilantes killed a Kashmiri Muslim trucker in Udhampur. BJP leaders and friends filed petitions to terminate the state's flag and special position. The tinderbox needed just a matchstick that came in handy with Burhan's death.
-''The writer is a senior journalist ''
-[[Category:India |J ]]
-[[Category:Jammu & Kashmir |J ]]
-== Aftermath ==
-[http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/yadav-family-fued-virat-kohli-baba-ramdev-mamata-banerjee/1/845227.html Shougat Dasgupta Asit Jolly MG Arun Damayanti Datta , Behind the headlines “India Today” 29/12/2016]
-[[File: Insha Malik blinded by pellet gun , India Today , December 29.2016 .jpg| Insha Malik blinded by pellet gun , India Today , December 29.2016 |frame|500px]]
-My Dear Insha,
-I was there when they carried you in with a bloodied face. Surgeons who cleaned your terrible wounds at Srinagar's Shri Maharaja Hari Singh (SMHS) Hospital said, "her face was like a sieve that had been used to filter blood". Earlier that July morning, you had sat terrified, huddled with other relatives in a first-floor room in your father's modest, two-storied home in Shopian's Sewdow village. Your parents believed you'd be safe from the fury on the street down below where police and paramilitary soldiers battled a mob of angry youngsters-some among them as young as 11, some of them your own classmates-protesting the killing of the Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani on July 8. But clearly, there was no place safe from the violence outside, the gunshots, the exploding canisters of teargas and fiery slogans. Suddenly, a window close to where you sat shattered. "I heard Insha wail and saw blood flowing from her face?her eyes. She fell down on the floor," Afroza Malik, your mother, said recalling her worst nightmare-become-real. Your eyes, face and torso were riddled with pellets from a pump-action shotgun fired, inexplicably, at the first-floor window. The good doctors, first at the SMHS Hospital in Srinagar and later at the nation's best, Delhi's All India Institute of Medical Sciences, kept you alive, helping you battle a series of complications including a brief brain infection from the lead pellets embedded inside your skull. The physical pain you still suffer will ebb with time. But the doctors have said they can do nothing that would help return your eyesight: "Nothing short of a miracle from God himself can give Insha Malik her beautiful eyes back," they said, evidently burdened by the pain of the terrible truth-that you will never again be able to see the beautiful Valley that is your home.
-"It's a fate worse than death. Worse than an AK-47 bullet through the skull," said a surgeon responsible for admitting young and older victims of this latest cycle of strife, one that completely changed life as we had known it until July 8 in the Kashmir Valley. Seventy-five people, many of them teenagers like you, have been killed (local media reports claim 97 dead). Thousands more have sustained injuries, including scores, who like you, have been wholly or partially blinded by pellet guns. The doctors at the SMHS Hospital talk of Omar Nazir, a diminutive 12-year-old school-going son of a daily wage worker of Pulwama called Nazir Ahmad. Unmoving on his hospital bed, he too had lost both his eyes. Tamanna Ashiq, just eight years old, was perhaps more fortunate. Struck similarly in the face by a deadly volley of shotgun pellets when she peered out the window of her village home to watch a protest demonstration on July 9, a day after Burhan's killing. A pellet lodged deep inside her right eye destroyed the retina but the schoolgirl still has one good eye.
-Nudged equally by the curfew ordered by the Mehbooba Mufti government and an unremitting calendar of hartals called by Syed Ali Shah Geelani as well as the Hurriyat hardliners, trouble persisted right until the Durbar (state government) packed its bags and shifted shop to Jammu for the winter in early November. In October, 12-year-old Junaid Akhoon of Saidpora in downtown Srinagar died. He fell to a hail of pellets fired by security personnel intent on dispersing a small crowd of protesters. Young Junaid's killing; the four-year-old girl with her legs and abdomen riddled by what she believes were "firecrackers"; the loss of Omar Nazir and Tamanna Ashiq's young eyes; and your own completely undeserved fate, Insha, are a distressing reminder of how children have fallen victim to the cycle of violent strife that simply won't leave the Kashmir Valley.
-Strife that is driven by a dangerously swelling sense of alienation and resentment that rankles every Kashmiri today-a feeling engendered by the mainstream Kashmiri political leadership and Delhi's collective failure to resolve the Kashmir issue. An anger that is preyed upon and fanned by obdurate Hurriyat hardliners like Geelani, who give little thought to the people they profess to speak for; who think little of paralysing the lives and livelihoods of an entire population; men who, for close to six long months, condemned Kashmir to a life of unending darkness; men who think nothing of shutting down schools and denying children the simple pleasure of stepping out of their homes to play.
-Children like you, Insha, and in fact close to 40 per cent of all Kashmiris-born after 1989-have no notion of what it is to live in peace. You have no experience of life without the discomforting presence of khaki uniforms, camouflaged fatigues, jackboots and Kalashnikovs.
-You cannot see it, but this is the greatest wound.
-Yours in empathy,
-Asit Jolly
-(To all the children of Kashmir who lost their innocence, blinded and bruised in the summer of 2016)
-=2015-2018: BJP- PDP’s coalition government=
-[https://epaper.timesgroup.com/Olive/ODN/TimesOfIndia/shared/ShowArticle.aspx?doc=TOIDEL%2F2018%2F06%2F20&entity=Ar01900&sk=584A2A4B&mode=text  Akhilesh Singh, J&K: One State, Two States Of Mind, June 20, 2018: ''The Times of India'']
-[[File: 2015-2018- BJP- PDP’s coalition government.jpg|2015-2018: BJP- PDP’s coalition government <br/> From: [https://epaper.timesgroup.com/Olive/ODN/TimesOfIndia/shared/ShowArticle.aspx?doc=TOIDEL%2F2018%2F06%2F20&entity=Ar01900&sk=584A2A4B&mode=text  Akhilesh Singh, J&K: One State, Two States Of Mind, June 20, 2018: ''The Times of India'']|frame|500px]]
-''BJP Hopes To Repair Image, Get Free Hand In Terror Fight''
-Wary of rising unease in its support base in Jammu and other parts of the country, BJP sought to refurbish its ‘Hindutva’ credentials by snapping ties with ally PDP to counter the perception that it had compromised its ideological commitment to unifying J&K with the mainland.
-The alliance with PDP, seen to pursue a ‘soft separatism’ political line, was always at odds with the BJP’s ‘nationalist’ stance and its advocacy of scrapping Article 370 and amending laws like Article 35A that accord special privileges to state residents.
-More immediately, BJP pointed to support to separatist sentiments as PDP sought to push a soft approach to stone-pelters and began to act against security forces by looking to file FIRs against officers, as was alleged in the Shopian firing case. The move to file FIRs, which left the scope to name officers, and brinkmanship over the Kathua gang-rape case, where it was suggested PDP could quit the alliance if BJP ministers present at a rally in support of the accused were not acted upon deepened the divisions.
-Differences over how to approach security ops took a toll on the alliance as the Centre’s ‘strike hard’ policy was seen by PDP as adversely impacting its south Kashmir base. Even in the Shujaat Bukhari case, it was felt police was being held back from conducting searches and NIA cases against separatists did not go down well with PDP either.
-There is an expectation that governor’s rule will allow the Centre to take tough measures against terrorism with the state police completely in sync. A senior party leader argued the perception was gaining ground that BJP was being held to ransom by its ally. Some also felt the death of Mufti Mohammad Sayeed robbed the state of a leader who could have reduced the Kashmir-Jammu divide.
-Mehbooba Mufti’s attempt to balance her political constituency with the challenge of terrorism and radicalism and the costs this was imposing on BJP found mention even in the recent dinner hosted by PM Narendra Modi for senior R-S-S functionaries and party general secretaries in charge of organisation.
-After the Centre’s decision not to extend the Ramzan truce, political circles were abuzz about Mehbooba quitting the alliance but BJP acted fast, looking to get back to the policy of ‘zero tolerance’ against terrorism. The alliance, BJP leaders said, was a bid to carry out a risky experiment, which did not work out.
-“It wasn’t possible to continue in view of the general polls approaching. Breaking the alliance will send a positive message about the party that it didn’t compromise with national security,” said a senior party leader.
-==2018, June: BJP- PDP alliance falls apart==
-[https://epaper.timesgroup.com/Olive/ODN/TimesOfIndia/shared/ShowArticle.aspx?doc=TOIDEL%2F2018%2F06%2F20&entity=Ar00501&sk=33FF4CC9&mode=text  June 20, 2018: ''The Times of India'']
-[[File: Coalition between BJP and PDP, March 1, 2015- June 19, 2018.jpg|Coalition between BJP and PDP, March 1, 2015- June 19, 2018; <br/> June 2018: how the BJP- PDP alliance fell apart—and why <br/> From: [https://epaper.timesgroup.com/Olive/ODN/TimesOfIndia/shared/ShowArticle.aspx?doc=TOIDEL%2F2018%2F06%2F20&entity=Ar00501&sk=33FF4CC9&mode=text  June 20, 2018: ''The Times of India'']|frame|500px]]
-PDP And BJP Were An Odd Couple To Begin With, And The Alliance In J&K Collapsed Under The Weight Of Their Inherent Differences, Made Worse By The Failure Of The Ramzan Ceasefire And The Killing Of An Editor Amid Escalating Violence
-In Pre-Emptive Strike, BJP Brings Down Mehbooba, Goes For Governor’s Rule
-Jammu and Kashmir is set for governor’s rule as the PDPBJP coalition, divided over tackling violence in the Kashmir Valley and catering to sharply conflicting political constituencies, came crashing on Tuesday with BJP yanking the rug from under its coalition partner.
-Despite a steady deterioration in relations, BJP’s decision to quit the alliance came as a surprise and was seen in some quarters as intended to pre-empt a precipitate move by chief minister Mehbooba Mufti, possibly by September-October.
-The dramatic decision has cleared the way for BJP to sharpen its ‘tough-on-security’ plank ahead of three state polls scheduled later this year and next year’s Lok Sabha contest. “Two issues were the basis of the coalition. One was to do all we could to restore peace and secondly to ensure equitable development of all three regions in the state. This has not happened, and in fact, the violence in the Valley has increased and this makes it difficult to continue,” BJP general secretary Ram Madhav told reporters, adding that Mehbooba discriminated against (Hindu-majority) Jammu and (Buddhist-dominated) Ladakh regions.
-He specifically mentioned the recent killing of Shujaat Bukhari, a prominent editor who had attracted the anger of Pakistan-backed terrorists and hardliners by supporting the Ramzan ceasefire, saying his murder in the heart of Srinagar in broad daylight signalled the Mehbooba government’s failure, impelling BJP to pull the plug on the first woman CM of J&K.
-Madhav’s stress on PDP’s alleged failings on countering separatism and radicalism and lack of attention to Jammu and Ladkah is clearly intended to refurbish its ‘Hindutva’ credentials, particularly at the national level where the party’s constituency was ill at ease with the arrangement.
-===Why BJP pulled out of alliance with PDP in J&K===
-[https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/6-reasons-why-bjp-pulled-the-plug-in-jammu-and-kashmir/articleshow/64658791.cms  June 20, 2018: ''The Times of India'']
 '''HIGHLIGHTS'''
-BJP pulled out of the coalition government in Jammu and Kashmir, leading to the governor’s rule in the troubled state. Here are six reasons why BJP pulled the plug in the state.
+India has finally shed the dubious distinction of being home to the largest number of poor, with Nigeria taking that unwanted position in May 2018
-. Both PDP and BJP were looking for an exit to shore up credentials among respective constituencies. BJP moved pre-emptively to seize political high ground.
-. Gulf between the partners had widened. Disagreements rose over security strategy after Burhan Wani’s killing. PDP wanted a softer approach towards stone-pelters + and militants, mindful of massive resentment in Valley.
-. Mehbooba Mufti’s moves mollifying her supporters in the Valley by raising the ante on Kathua gang rape and Army/security forces’ operations further annoyed BJP’s constituency.
-. BJP went along with PDP’s demand for a ceasefire during Ramzan + . This was not reciprocated by Pakistan-backed terror groups or separatists, and dented BJP’s image nationally.
-. The ‘pre-emptive’ strike against Mehbooba Mufti is aimed at repairing the damage. BJP was keen to pull out earlier but waited until Tuesday so that state elections don’t have to be held before 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
-. The killing of journalist Shujaat Bukhari + provided the impetus for Centre to take control. BJP will revive its hardline nationalist theme, starting with S P Mookerjee’s death anniversary on June 23.
-===The Ramzan truce helped, but not enough===
-[https://epaper.timesgroup.com/Olive/ODN/TimesOfIndia/shared/ShowArticle.aspx?doc=TOIDEL%2F2018%2F06%2F20&entity=Ar01902&sk=A15D5190&mode=text  Bharti Jain, How Ramzan truce brought some calm but failed at peace, June 20, 2018: ''The Times of India'']
-[[File: Violence during the PDP- BJP alliance government- Civilian- militant, Army casualties under PDP-BJP government, 2015- June 2018; Casualties in ceasefire violations- cross-border firing, 2015- June 2018.jpg|Violence during the PDP- BJP alliance government: <br/> i) Civilian- militant, Army casualties under PDP-BJP government, 2015- June 2018; <br/> ii) Casualties in ceasefire violations- cross-border firing, 2015- June 2018 <br/> The Ramzan cease fire of May- June 2018: <br/> a) Violence during the 2018 Ramzan, and during the preceding month; <br/> b) A timeline of the Ramzan cease fire.  <br/> From: [https://epaper.timesgroup.com/Olive/ODN/TimesOfIndia/shared/ShowArticle.aspx?doc=TOIDEL%2F2018%2F06%2F20&entity=Ar01902&sk=A15D5190&mode=text  Bharti Jain, How Ramzan truce brought some calm but failed at peace, June 20, 2018: ''The Times of India'']|frame|500px]]
-The 31-day Ramzan truce in J&K saw a 265% spike in terror-related incidents and 80% rise in killings of security forces compared with the preceding 31-day period but did provide respite by bringing down stone-pelting incidents by 40% and the killings of civilians in terror and law and order-related incidents.
-According to official figures, terror incidents in J&K shot up from 20 between April 15 and May 16 to 73 during May 17-June 16. However, there was no let-up in the crackdown on terrorism with 22 terrorists killed during the ceasefire compared with 14 in the 31 days preceding the truce. Most of the terrorists killed were foreign fighters.
-Security personnel killed in terror incidents went up from five in the pre-ceasefire period to nine during the truce. During the truce, 14 security personnel were injured in law and order incidents and 52 in terror attacks.
-Five civilians were killed during the ceasefire compared to the preceding 31 days, when 12 died. As for stone pelting, there were 107 cases during the truce, and 258 from April 15 to May 16.
-“The suspension of operations… did provide relief to civilians as stone-pelting incidents declined and so did casualties among security forces and civilians in law and order incidents. However, there was a sharp rise in terror-related incidents as Pakistan-backed terrorists tried their best to sabotage the truce, even launching spectacular attacks like the killing of journalist Shujaat Bukhari and soldier Aurangzeb in the final days,” said a home ministry official.
-“The failure of the Hurriyat to seize the opportunity and reciprocate our Ramzan initiative only emboldened the terrorists. By killing Bukhari, a clear message was sent by Pakistan’s ISI and separatist hardliners based in J&K that anybody supporting peace would meet with the same fate,” the official added.
-===Fallout of alliance with BJP on PDP===
-[https://epaper.timesgroup.com/Olive/ODN/TimesOfIndia/shared/ShowArticle.aspx?doc=TOIDEL%2F2018%2F06%2F20&entity=Ar01905&sk=87F80114&mode=text  Aarti Tikoo Singh & M Saleem Pandit, PDP loses partner, and its support base, June 20, 2018: ''The Times of India'']
-[[File: Fallout of alliance with BJP on PDP.jpg|Fallout of alliance with BJP on PDP <br/> From: [https://epaper.timesgroup.com/Olive/ODN/TimesOfIndia/shared/ShowArticle.aspx?doc=TOIDEL%2F2018%2F06%2F20&entity=Ar01905&sk=87F80114&mode=text  Aarti Tikoo Singh & M Saleem Pandit, PDP loses partner, and its support base, June 20, 2018: ''The Times of India'']|frame|500px]]
-Nineteen years after Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and his daughter Mehbooba Mufti floated the Peoples Democratic Party in 1999, the regional party is staring at one of its worst crises.
-In 2015, when PDP joined hands with BJP — a very unlikely alliance — to form the government, for many there was reason for optimism. Especially in PDP, comprising mostly the Jamat-e-Islami, the pro-Pakistan socio-political group whose armed wing is Hizbul Mujahideen.
-“Our hope was BJP, like in its previous avatar under PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee, would initiate dialogue with separatists and Pakistan to resolve the longstanding conflict,” a PDP member told TOI.
-When Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani was killed in an encounter in 2016, “the PDP lost lot of ground in its bastion, south Kashmir, the hotbed of the new militancy that was born through the violent years of 2008 to 2010,” Shahnawaz, a PDP activist in Anantnag, said. The entire valley erupted in protests, with over 80 people killed in clashes and some even blinded by pellets, which further added to the growing anger against PDP.
-“The lynching of several Muslims over the suspicions of beef made BJP extremely unpopular in Kashmir too. By continuing its alliance with BJP, PDP lost my vote,” Ishrat, a student in Kulgam, said.
-PDP’s base eroded further when BJP refused to hold talks with separatists and instead sent NIA after them to crack down on terror funding.
-=Polarised views, polarised thinking and rumours=
-==1994/ Innocent tailor; 2016/ The girl who was not molested==
-[Ahmed Ali Fayyaz, In Kashmir’s polarised polity, it’s all down to who you believe in the battle of narratives, April 21, 2016, The Times of India]
-When, in 1994, a sizeable crowd dragged a youthful tailor out of his home in the congested Nawab Bazar neighbourhood in downtown Srinagar and stoned him to death for the ‘rape’ of a three-and-a-half-year-old girl, an investigation by Kashmir Times established that the accused had not even touched the tiny tot. It was probably the first Taliban-type execution in Kashmir. The tailor’s body was thrown into the Jhelum.
-This does not suggest that every rumour or outcry in the Valley is unfounded. It does, however, underscore the need of a credible investigation into the street allegation of a 16-year-old girl student’s molestation by a soldier in Handwara. Unfortunately, neither the media today nor any magistrate – police itself has become a party after releasing the girl’s video – retains credibility.
-If an enquiry finds the soldier guilty, it will vindicate the pro-separatist civil society. Army will dismiss it as ‘a conspiracy to deprecate the security forces’. Contrarily, if an enquiry gives a clean chit to the anonymous soldier civil society, including mainstream politicians thriving on pseudo-separatist tirades, would call it ‘a fudged one to protect the forces and denigrate the Kashmiris’. The accusation, though debunked by the girl in disputed conditions, has already claimed five civilian lives in Kupwara district.
-The world witnessed how an outcry of ‘rape and murder’ of two young women in Shopian set the Valley on fire in 2009. Even CBI – whose investigations in the infamous Pathribal fake encounter and Srinagar sex scam had been widely appreciated – failed to find takers for its conclusion in this case. It established that neither rape nor murder had happened. Exhumation of the unmarried girl’s body, followed by a thorough examination by a team of doctors and forensic experts from AIIMS and FSL, found her hymen and septum intact. But by then, Shopian had taken its toll.
-Police have not been able to investigate even 2% of the over 60,000 militancy-related FIRs filed in the last 25 years. Allegations of sexual abuse and rape against non-state actors have often gone unnoticed, unreported and unquestioned. When the father of 2009 IAS topper Shah Faesal counselled a non-Kashmiri guerrilla against shaking his hand forcibly with a neighbour’s daughter, it proved to be the last day of the poor teacher’s life.
-Security forces too enjoyed considerable impunity as few of them were punished over a delinquency or crime. From Kunan-Poshpora (1991) to Handwara (2016), the army has faced allegations of rape and molestation scores of times. Enjoying immunity under AFSPA, it has not been held accountable. Even the first – and till date the last – investigation by the Press Council of India (in the Kunan-Poshpora case) was not acceptable to civil society in the Valley as it exonerated the army and was conducted by a journalist known for his linkage to the then army chief’s father.
-As the army provided institutional support to the accused even in cases like Pathribal, the Valley’s intelligentsia and civil society which was already tilted towards the separatists and militants, found it convenient to compromise neutrality and professionalism. When over 20 non-Kashmiri students were injured in the police lathi charge at NIT Srinagar, neither the agencies nor newspapers in Srinagar carried a line of reporting till it exploded in New Delhi.
-People have little hesitation to admit that many of the journalists, human rights activists, judges and lawyers, even police officers, are obsessively inclined to one side and selectively pick up on matters that have potential to malign the Indian state, its systems, institutions and icons.
-Now the battle lines are drawn. Rumour and perception have taken precedence over news. In the battle of narratives, which gets intensified by New Delhi’s licence to competitive separatism and an unbridled social media, the Valley would support the Handwara ‘victim’ only if she complains against the soldier. And the rest of India will be on her side only if she omits the soldier and proceeds against the two Kashmiri youths who created the scene.
-Unscrupulous players have turned the teenager into a political football to strengthen their narrative. Nobody seems to care for her safety, dignity and future.
-== Aug- Oct 2016: 20 educational institutes destroyed==
-[http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/Article.aspx?eid=31808&articlexml=Taliban-type-offensive-against-schools-in-JK-27102016017031   Saleem Pandit, Taliban-type offensive against schools in J&K, Oct 27 2016 : The Times of India]
-Institutes Wrecked In Last 3 Mths [Aug- Oct 2016]
-Almost like Taliban's offensive against education in Pakistan and Afghanistan, terror groups in Kashmir are destroying schools and ensuring their continued shutdown. According to official figures, seventeen government schools and three private schools have been wrecked in the last three months of unrest.
-The schools in Valley have remained shut since the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani on July 8. Officials said that around two million students have been prevented from going to schools across the Kashmir Valley . The students of border areas like Gurez, Tangdhar and Uri in Kashmir, and Jammu and Ladakh regions have been attending schools without disruption though. Separatist influence is limited to the Valley.
-Pakistan-sponsored stone-pelting brigades set two more government schools on fire on Tuesday , one at Noorbagh area of Srinagar city and a higher secondary at Aishmuqam in Anantnag district.The closure of schools and colleges has also been enforced by the diktats issued by the separatist conglomerate Hurriyat and militant outfits.
-Lashkar-e-Taiba issued a warning to J&K education minister Naeem Akhtar on September 27 for trying to resume schools and colleges in the Valley. Lashkar spokesman Abdullah Ghaznavi quoted LeT operation chief Mehmood Shah and said, “...Kashmiris are educated enough to decide what is good or bad for them. If Naeem Akhtar does not budge, we will initiate action against him.“ Later, in an open letter, Akhtar asked pro-Pakistan separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani to allow educational institutions to run. But his plea had no effect on separatists or terror groups.
-Hundreds of parents have sent their wards to Jammu and Delhi for studies after they lost three months of schooling.
-=2018=
-==Report of High Commissioner for Human Rights==
-[https://epaper.timesgroup.com/Olive/ODN/TimesOfIndia/shared/ShowArticle.aspx?doc=TOIDEL%2F2018%2F06%2F16&entity=Ar01213&sk=74B6FC8C&mode=text  Dilip Sinha, June 16, 2018: ''The Times of India'']
-''(The writer is a former ambassador to the UN in Geneva and vice-president of Human Rights Council).''
-The report of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on the human rights situation in Kashmir deserves attention, coming as it does from the office that claims the “unique mandate from the international community to promote and protect all human rights”. This is an exaggerated interpretation of the mandate of the office as given by the UN General Assembly in 1993, when it was established. Protecting human rights is the duty of the country concerned, though some western countries claim greater say in the affairs of others. The tendentious report, which has a major factual error, only serves to highlight the inherent weaknesses of the office and the people running it.
-Human rights are a tool in international relations used by countries to point fingers at others and avoid scrutiny of their own record. The extreme politicisation of the UN Commission on Human Rights in Geneva led to the body being abolished in 2006 and replaced by the Human Rights Council. But the changes were cosmetic. The Council does not even have its own secretariat. The high commissioner’s office, which services it, treats itself as an autonomous body. And with good reason. The high commissioner is not elected by the Council but is appointed by the UN secretary-general.
-First, the factual error in the report. It says that India is a state party to the international conventions against torture and enforced disappearance. A check on its own website would have confirmed to the office that India has not ratified either. Pakistan has ratified the convention against torture, but that is another story.
-Now to the glaring biases in the report. It refers to LeT, JeM and Harkat-ul-Mujahideen as “armed groups” even though they are listed as terrorist organisations by the Security Council. This will be music to Pakistan’s ears. Little wonder it has welcomed the report.
-Human rights bodies undermine their own credibility when they ignore the violence of terrorists and focus exclusively on the responsibilities of government security forces.
-The high commissioner’s office does not state why it selected Kashmir’s human rights situation for the report. It does not cite any resolution of the General Assembly, the Human Rights Council or the Security Council as the mandate for it, only its founding resolution. Why does the high commissioner, Zeid Raad Al Hussein of Jordan, then pick on it for a special report? Does he have the same obsession with Kashmir as the Organisation for Islamic Cooperation, where Pakistan has been insisting on it year after year?
-The report claims that it also covers the situation in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and states that “human rights violations in this area are of a different calibre and magnitude and of a more structural nature”. It even concedes that people in the Pakistan-occupied part do not have the rights available to citizens of Pakistan and their independence is illusory. But twothirds of the report deals with the Indian part.
-The report repeats allegations and statistics from various motivated sources on the number of people killed by Indian security forces and those missing. It dwells at length on the provisions of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act but ignores the fact that most countries protect their armed forces with similar laws.
-The high commissioner’s obsession with Kashmir is also evident from the coverage given to the Kashmir dispute in the report.
-But how independent is the office? A look at its budget reveals that it has little financial independence. Only 40% of its funding comes from the UN. The remaining money is given by member states, mainly western, who decide where it is to be spent. Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Russia are the only non-western countries among the top 20 donors. Half the office staff is drawn from western countries. The report does not state which countries have funded it.
-The report may be used by some political parties and NGOs in India to embarrass the government. They would do well to remember that Pakistan had joined hands with the OIC during Narasimha Rao’s time to do the same in the Commission on Human Rights. But we should not let our political differences give an opportunity to selfappointed international custodians of human rights to interfere in our inter nal affairs.
-==Nov: Assembly is dissolved when PDP, NC, Cong combine stakes claim==
-[https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/jammu-and-kashmir-assembly-dissolution-victory-for-pdp-nc/articleshow/66738066.cms  Samiya Latief, Jammu and Kashmir assembly dissolution: Victory for PDP, NC?, November 22, 2018: ''The Times of India'']
-[[File: Assembly is dissolved when PDP, NC, Cong combine stakes claim- November 2018.jpg|Assembly is dissolved when PDP, NC, Cong combine stakes claim- November 2018 <br/> From: [https://epaper.timesgroup.com/Olive/ODN/TimesOfIndia/shared/ShowArticle.aspx?doc=TOIDEL%2F2018%2F11%2F22&entity=Ar00507&sk=9FE73D68&mode=text  Saleem Pandit, November 22, 2018:  ''The Times of India'']|frame|500px]]
-The announcement of grand alliance of the PDP, NC and Congress literally forced Governor Satya Pal Malik to dissolve the assembly, paving way for early elections in the state.
-In fast-paced developments, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti on Wednesday evening wrote a letter to the Governor to stake claim to form the government in alliance with the NC and Congress in the state.
-To counter Mehbooba Mufti, People's Conference's Sajad Lone just moments later also staked claim to form the government in the state.
-But within an hour, the Governor issued a notification dissolving the state assembly.
-Both the PDP and NC were demanding dissolution of the assembly for the last five months, however, the Governor had refused to act till now.
-Taking a dig at Governor, NC chief Omar Abdullah took to Twitter and said: "JKNC has been pressing for assembly dissolution for 5 months now. It can’t be a coincidence that within minutes of Mehbooba Mufti Sahiba letter staking claim the order to dissolve the assembly suddenly appears."
-However, the dissolution of the assembly is still being considered to be a victory of the two main regional parties - PDP and NC - in the state as both are willing to hold fresh polls.
-PDP chief also took to Twitter and said she had never thought that the idea of a grand coalition would give such "jitters" and would help in achieving the "seemingly impossible".
-Both the PDP and NC don't have much to lose as it will stop the alleged "horse-trading" of their party members by the BJP-backed People's Conference.
-Talking to TOI, a PDP leader on condition of anonymity said, "This was part of the plan that worked. We wanted to pressurise the Governor to dissolve the assembly. The BJP and PC were trying to break our party and now everything is over. MLAs can't do anything."
-But, for the BJP and PC, assembly dissolution has come as a major setback as they have been trying hard to come up with a third front in the state.
-After the BJP broke the alliance with PDP in June, at least 3 of its members rebelled against the leadership and sided with Sajad Lone, and more members were likely to desert the party. Even the NC had accused the BJP of horse-trading to form the government.
-After the June 19 pull-out, Lone is understood to have been approaching disgruntled PDP leaders for forming an alliance with the BJP, the sources said. The PC has only two MLAs.
-The PC chief was also successful in breaking away NC's chief spokesman Junaid Mattu, who contested the urban local body elections and became the mayor of Srinagar.
-However, even with the support of the BJP, Lone could not gather the numbers till now to stake the claim to form the government in Jammu and Kashmir.
-The PDP had 28 MLAs, followed by NC's 15 and and the Congress' 12. The BJP was the second largest party in the state with 25 members.
-=2020=
-== Geelani leaves Hurriyat Conference==
-[https://epaper.timesgroup.com/Olive/ODN/TimesOfIndia/shared/ShowArticle.aspx?doc=TOIDEL%2F2020%2F06%2F30&entity=Ar00308&sk=9969BB97&mode=text  Saleem Pandit, June 30, 2020: ''The Times of India'']
-In a move that left Kashmir’s separatist conglomerate in disarray, pro-Pakistan hardliner Syed Ali Shah Geelani quit his faction of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference and named Abdullah Geelani as his successor amid speculation he was doing ISI’s bidding. The Rawalpindi-based Abdullah Geelani is the younger brother of the late SAR Geelani, former DU professor who was acquitted in the Parliament attack case.
-Officially, the 91-year-old cited disenchantment with the way fellow constituents of the group responded to the nullification of Article 370 as the primary reason for his decision. He also alleged lack of accountability within Hurriyat and a rebellion brewing in the ranks.
-''' ‘Successor to Geelani said to be close to ISI’ '''
-A Hurriyat spokesman said Shah Geelani had written to all eight constituents of the group, outlining the reasons for his quitting, including allegations of lack of accountability within Hurriyat colleagues based in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. “Activities of these representatives are limited to seeking access to ministries in POK. Some members were expelled while others started holding their own meetings. These activities were endorsed by you (constituents) by holding a meeting here to ratify their decisions,” he wrote.
-Sources said Abdullah Geelani being chosen to run the Hurriyat from Rawalpindi effectively means sidelining the separatist cabal in the Valley. Abdullah Geelani is the brother of SAR Geelani, the former DU professor who was acquitted in the 2001 Parliament attack case. “Abdullah is known to be close to ISI,” an insider said.
-===Details===
-[https://epaper.timesgroup.com/Olive/ODN/TimesOfIndia/shared/ShowArticle.aspx?doc=TOIDEL%2F2020%2F07%2F01&entity=Ar02004&sk=B8317A7B&mode=text  Bharti Jain, July 1, 2020: ''The Times of India'']
-The exit of the ailing, 90-year-old separatist hawk Syed Ali Shah Geelani from the Hurriyat Conference completes his sidelining by those very Pakistanbased masters who used him for the past several years to stoke the fires of militancy and violence in Jammu & Kashmir.
-Sources in the security establishment said Geelani’s dissociation with the Hurriyat reeked of Pakistan’s and particularly ISI’s “use and throw” policy, given that the politician who could mobilise endless hartals and violent protests in his heyday was now left to fend for himself after he riled them with his attempts to assert his supremacy through his chosen representative for the Hurriyat’s PoK chapter, Abdullah Gilani, and prop up his sons as heirs to his legacy.
-The rumblings within the Hurriyat Conference led by Shah Geelani have been going on for the past 4-6 months. Geelani, a source said, realised that time was not on his side and was keen to push his sons in the succession battle. In fact, he ensured that Abdullah Gilani, his trusted aide and a good friend of his son Nayeem Geelani, was appointed as convenor of the Hurriyat chapter in PoK.
-An IPS officer said this was with an eye on creating acceptance for his son, purportedly Nayeem, as the heir to his legacy. However, Pakistan-based agencies were not happy with the plan and are believed to have tied up with other Hurriyat functionaries in Kashmir as well as PoK to first sideline and then oust Abdullah Gilani recently by replacing him with their “own man” Hussain Mohammad Khateeb.
-===''Hurriyat's mission has failed''===
-[https://epaper.timesgroup.com/Olive/ODN/TimesOfIndia/shared/ShowArticle.aspx?doc=TOIDEL%2F2020%2F07%2F01&entity=Ar02018&sk=4029496D&mode=text  Saleem Pandit, ‘Hurriyat failed in its mission, wrote Geelani’, July 1, 2020: ''The Times of India'']
-J&K DGP Dilbagh Singh said former Hurriyat Conference chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani had admitted in a letter sent by him to all constituents of the separatist outfit that the “path chosen by him was wrong and people were using it for personal gains, while the mission they were pursuing has failed.”
-Singh said, “Geelani’s letter is an eye-opener. He admitted that they (Hurriyat Conference and its factions) have miserably failed in their mission and the Kashmir issue is being used by people for their personal gain. He also confessed that his path was wrong, and they were propagating negative thinking.”
-The DGP said, the aged politician, in his letter, had “cried hoarse” over how people sitting across the LoC were luring Kashmiri youths towards narcotics. Geelani had also stated that “Kashmir’s freedom struggle was reduced to mere drug abuse and serving Pakistan’s interests.”
-== Major changes in domicile rules==
-[https://epaper.timesgroup.com/Olive/ODN/TimesOfIndia/shared/ShowArticle.aspx?doc=TOIDEL%2F2020%2F05%2F19&entity=Ar01100&sk=7406B86B&mode=text  Sanjay Khajuria, J&K notifies major changes in domicile rules, May 19, 2020: ''The Times of India'']
-The J&K government issued a notification specifying the conditions for obtaining domicile certificates necessary for applying for government jobs and other privileges in the Union Territory, with some amendments in the Jammu & Kashmir Civil Services (Decentralisation and Recruitment) Act, 2010. As a result of the new rules, West Pakistan refugees, children of women married outside J&K and ‘safai karamcharis’ will now be eligible for domicile certificate.
-Addressing a press conference on Sunday, government spokesperson Rohit Kansal said, according to the new rules all those holding permanent resident certificates of the erstwhile J&K state will be eligible to get domicile certificates from the designated authority. “Permanent residents of the erstwhile state of J&K in whose favour permanent resident certificates have been issued by the competent authority before 31.10.2019 shall be eligible for receiving their domicile certificates on the basis of PRCs alone and no other document shall be required for such residents,” Kansal said.
-He added, “There may be bonafide migrants and bonafide displaced persons who have migrated but have not registered with the relief department. In order to facilitate such persons, the relief department shall be making a special limited provision to apply before the Relief & Rehabilitation Commissioner (Migrant) for registration for the purpose of issuance of a domicile certificate only, with any one of the many documents such as 1951/1988 electoral roll, proof of employment, ownership of property, proof of registration in other states/UTs as a migrant or a displaced person or any other documentation which would have made him/her eligible for grant of PRC before 06-08-2019.”
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-==Pakistani MBBS seats scandal==
-[https://epaper.timesgroup.com/Olive/ODN/TimesOfIndia/shared/ShowArticle.aspx?doc=TOIDEL%2F2020%2F07%2F07&entity=Ar00719&sk=75A61C3E&mode=text  Saleem Pandit, Hurriyat members in dock over sale of Pak med seats in J&K, July 7, 2020: ''The Times of India'']
-Seats Sold For ₹10-20L To Kids Of Cops, Netas
-Srinagar:
-Over two decades, Hurriyat members and other separatists earned a fortune by facilitating medical and engineering seats to wards of influential families of J&K, including kids of cops and politicians, as well as accommodating their own kin in colleges in Pakistan and PoK.
-The train of students going to Pakistan interestingly enough failed to attract any action from successive Indian governments since the quotas were first set up in 2000. The seats were ostensibly meant for Kashmiri children whose parents or bread–earner were killed in the conflict in J&K. What came to pass was separatists selling seats designated for orphans between Rs 10 lakh to 20 lakh each.
-The separatists preferred students from Sopore and Baramulla areas besides other parts of north Kashmir, a Hurriyat insider said. Though fees are charged, students are provided 100% scholarship, free accommodation and a per diem.
-Syed Ali Shah Geelani’s differences with Ghulam Mohammad Safi over alleged corruption brought the can of worms out in the public. While four of the siblings of Safi are either doctors or engineers, one daughter is a journalist in Islamabad. Geelani refused to hand over leadership of the PoK chapter of his Hurriyat faction to Safi.
-Interestingly, police officers, bureaucrats and mainstream politicos also managed MBBS seats for their wards through Hurriyat leaders. The daughter of a police officer who was in former CM Mehbooba Mufti’s security is understood to a beneficiary.
-The girl is currently at the Peoples University of Medical and Health Sciences for Women in Sindh in Pakistan. Likewise, a daughter of another retired DSP and a former deputy commissioner’s daughter were given MBBS seats in lieu of money, the Hurriyat source said.
-Hurriyat patron Syed Geelani Ali Geelani’s aides like Ghulam Mohammad Sofi alias Safi in Islamabad in Pakistan would operate through Geelani’s jailed private secretary Ayaz Akbar. Mirwaiz Umar’s representative Fayaz Naqshbandi besides Prof Abdul Gani Bhat are also understood to have been involved.
-Jailed separatist Shabir Shah’s representative in Islamabad was one Mehmood Sagar, originally a Kashmiri dry fruit shopkeeper of Saribala in Srinagar, as also one Bashir Ahmad Wani. The representatives or the conduits would arrange seats and money was received by the Hurriyat and separatist leaders here in Kashmir, the Hurriyat insider said.
+If present trends continue, India could drop to No. 3 later this year, with the Democratic Republic of the Congo taking the number 2 spot
-Importantly, while Geelani’s Hurriyat faction has 22 constituents, Mirwaiz- headed Hurriyat is a conglomerate of 27 smaller separatist groups. Both the groups are involved in monetary transfers, according to the insider.
-Syed Ali Geelani’s resignation from the Hurriyat faction on June 29 exposed the scandal when he cited sale of Pakistani medical seats by his constituent outfit leaders as one of the main reasons of his quitting the amalgam.
+In the time that it takes you to read this article, several Indians will have escaped the clutches of extreme poverty. In fact, about 44 Indians come out of extreme poverty every minute, one of the fastest rates of poverty reduction in the world. As a result, India has finally shed the dubious distinction of being home to the largest number of poor, with Nigeria taking that unwanted position in May 2018.
-[[Category:History|J
+If present trends continue, India could drop to No. 3 later this year, with the Democratic Republic of the Congo taking the number 2 spot. Defining extreme poverty as living on less than $1.9 a day, a recent study published in a Brookings blog says that by 2022, less than 3% of Indians will be poor and extreme poverty could be eliminated altogether by 2030.
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+The study, published in the ‘Future Development’ blog of Brookings, says, “At the end of May 2018, our trajectories suggest that Nigeria had about 87 million people in extreme poverty, compared with India’s 73 million. What is more, extreme poverty in Nigeria is growing by six people every minute, while poverty in India continues to fall.”
-JAMMU & KASHMIR, HISTORY: 1989-]]
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-=See also=
+However, the estimates of extreme poverty reduction may not match with Indian numbers because of differences in how poverty is measured. According to the World Bank, between 2004 and 2011 poverty declined in India from 38.9% of the population to 21.2% (2011 purchasing power parity at $1.9 per person per day).
-[[Jammu & Kashmir, history: 1846- 1946]]
-[[Jammu & Kashmir, history: 1947-48]]
+Economists said the finding of the study supports the argument that rapid economic growth had helped make a dent in extreme poverty. “Basically it supports the growth story and the 1991 economic reforms that have helped reduce poverty,” said N R Bhanumurthy, professor at the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy. “Going ahead, the challenge is to meet the Sustainable Development Goals, which will help realise the study’s findings that India would be able to eliminate extreme poverty by 2030,” he said.
-[[Jammu & Kashmir, history: 1989- ]]
+Bhanumurthy said the assumption that India would be able to eliminate extreme poverty by 2030 seems realistic given the country’s record in the past 10 years in reducing poverty and its ability to meet the Millennium Development Goals. “But to achieve that we must continue to grow at 7%-8% for the remaining period,” he said. The UN-sponsored Sustainable Development Goals aim to eliminate global poverty by 2030.
-[[Jammu & Kashmir: Militant violence]]
+The benchmark projections of poverty by country imply a high speed of poverty reduction in South Asia, East Asia and the Pacific, fuelled by the high rates of income per capita growth in India, Indonesia, Bangladesh, the Philippines, China and Pakistan, the study says. It showed global income increases in the last decades have led to systematic decreases in poverty rates worldwide, with the experience in India and China having played the most important role when it comes to the overall number of persons escaping absolute poverty.
-[[Category:History|J JAMMU & KASHMIR, HISTORY: 1989-
+At the heart of the study is the World Poverty Clock. It takes into account household surveys and projections of economic growth from the IMF’s World Economic Outlook. These form the basic building blocks for poverty trajectories computed for 188 countries. The study said that Africa accounts for about two-thirds of the world’s extreme poor.
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+If current trends persist, they will account for nine-tenths by 2030. Fourteen out of 18 countries in the world where the number of extreme poor is rising are in Africa, it added. The study model estimated that on September 1, 2017, 647 million people lived in extreme poverty. “Every minute 70 people escape poverty (or 1.2 people per second). This is close to the Sustainable Development Goal target (92 people per minute, or 1.5 per second) and allows us to estimate that around 36 million people have escaped extreme poverty in the year 2016,” it added.
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Jammu & Kashmir, history: 1989-, Poverty: India

Revision as of 14:52, 21 October 2020

Contents

Defining poverty

Planning Commission's formula

Definition of poverty in 2011-12

2014: McKinsey’s definition

SIGNS OF POVERTY

Rural poverty

Poverty in rural households: Socio-economic census (2014?)

2017 yardsticks

Urban poverty

Bibek Debroy Committee: 2017

Poverty Line

Tendulkar committee

WORLD BANK Poverty

Angus Deaton on the Indian poverty line

Poverty line, population below

1973- 2005: Percentage and Number of Poor Estimation

1990-2016: below the international poverty line

1993-2005: Percentage, number of Poor Estimated by Tendulkar Method

2011-13: the enormity of the poverty that remains

2012 poverty: World Bank report

Causes of poverty

Expenditure on health

Decline in 2005-12

Number of poor reduced from 407 million to 269 million

Defining extreme (Tendulkar) and moderate poverty (Rangarajan)

A higher poverty line is drawn

Decline in 2005-16

2005-16: Over 270m in India moved out of poverty

…according to the Multidimensional Poverty Index

Decline in poverty: 2010> 19

Details

Decline in 2011-12: I

Odisha and Bihar

All-India

Bimaru

Rajasthan

Rural India has seen faster improvement than urban centres

Decline in 2011-12: II

The poverty ratio in 2011-12

Suresh Tendulkar committee’s methodology

Best and worst states

2011-12: BPL population

2011-12: Rangarajan panel's estimate: III

II

Decline in 2018

South and east lead; central India worst off

2017-18

World Data Lab estimates

India vis-a-vis other countries

8 Indian states poorer than Africa’s 26 poorest

2017: the share of India, China in the world’s poor

2016-18: India’s international position improves

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