Lok Sabha Question No. 3532 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-08-10
Subject: Increase in BPL People due to Coronavirus Pandemic
Ministry: RURAL DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: P. C. Mohan, Lallu Singh, Arun Kumar Sagar

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT

## LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3532

ANSWERED ON 10/08/2021

## INCREASE IN BPL PEOPLE DUE TO CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC

## 3532.   SHRI P.C. MOHAN:

## SHRI LALLU SINGH:

SHRI ARUN KUMAR SAGAR:

Will the Minister of RURAL DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:

- (a) whether applications for inclusion in the BPL list are lying pending with the Government, if so, the details thereof, State-wise;
- (b) whether there has been an increase in the number of people living below poverty line in last two years due to corona pandemic in the country;
- (c) if  so,  the  details  of  the  number  of  people  living  below  poverty  line  in  the  country, especially  in  the  backward  rural  areas,  State  and  district-wise  including  State  of Karnataka;
- (d) whether the Government has any scheme to uplift these people from poverty, if so, the details thereof; and
- (e) whether the Government has set or proposes to set the targets for upliftment of all the people living below poverty line especially in the backward and rural areas during the next five years, if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor; and
- (f) the number of persons living below poverty line targetted to be uplifted, year-wise along with the updated status thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT (SADHVI NIRANJAN JYOTI)

(a): No  Sir.  After  Socio  Economic  and  Caste  Census  (SECC)  2011  replaced  earlier  Below Poverty Line (BPL) Surveys, rural households have been classified as (i) automatically excluded, (ii) automatically included and (iii) deprived.

(b) & (c): The erstwhile Planning Commission defined poverty line and estimated the number of people living under poverty line (for both all-India and states, including Karnataka), based on the quinquennial  large  sample  surveys  on  Household  Consumer  Expenditure  carried  out  by  the National Sample Survey office (NSSO) of the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation. The latest available poverty estimates are for the year 2011-12.

(d): The  Government  has  taken  many  steps  to  help  the  poor  during  the  pandemic  period including relief  packages  under  the  Pradhan  Mantri  Garib  Kalyan  Yojana  (PMGKY). Under this package, an ex gratia of Rs. 1,000 in two installments of Rs. 500 each were given to 2.82 crore existing  old  age,  widow  and  disabled  beneficiaries  of  National  Social  Assistance  Programme (NSAP), amountingto Rs. 2814.50 crore, and an ex gratia of Rs. 1,500 in three installments of Rs. 500 each were paid to all 20.40 crore women account holders of Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) through Direct Benefit  Transfer  (DBT),  amounting  to  Rs.  30,944.9  crore.  In  addition, under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Ann Yojana (PMGKY) free food grains were distributed to nearly 80 crore beneficiaries under National Food Security Act (NFSA) [Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) and Priority Households (PHH)] during April-November, 2020 and it has been decided to extend these benefits for the period May-November, 2021. Further, for the development of rural areas, through generation of employment, strengthening of livelihood opportunities, promotion of self-employment, skilling of rural  youth, provision of social assistance and development of  rural infrastructure,  the  Ministry  of  Rural  Development  has  been  implementing  schemes  such  as Mahatma  Gandhi  National  Rural  Employment  Guarantee  Scheme  (MGNREGS),  Deendayal Gramin  Kaushalya  Yojana  (DDU-GKY),   Pradhan  Mantri  Awaas  Yojana-Gramin  (PMAY-G), Pradhan  Mantri  Gram  Sadak  Yojana  (PMGSY),  Shyama  Prasad  Mukherjee  National  Rurban

Antyodaya  Yojana-National  Rural  Livelihoods  Mission  (DAY-NRLM),  Deen  Dayal  UpadhyayMission(SPMRM) and National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP).

(e)  &(f):  8.73  crore  rural  households,  that  were  classified  as  deprived  in  SECC-2011,  are  being supported through schemes such as PMAY-G for providing houses to houseless, DAY-NRLM for mobilizing  Self  Help  Groups  (SHGs),  DDU-GKY  for  skilling  rural  youths,  MGNREGS  for preparing  labour  budget  in  order  to  provide  adequate  employment  to  the  poor  people,  Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) for extending health insurance cover, Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana  (PMUY)  for  providing  Liquefied  Petroleum  Gas  (LPG)  connections  to  the  poor  and Pradhan  Mantri  Sahaj  Bijili  Har  Ghar  Yojana-  Saubhagya  (PMSBY)  for  giving  electricity connections to unelectrified houses.

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