50% Indians living below poverty line: Govt panel

NEW DELHI: In what could provide a radical boost to UPA���s aam aadmi agenda but also pose a mind-boggling fiscal challenge, a government panel has recommended that 50% of India���s population be given below-poverty-line cards.

The recommendations of the rural development ministry���s committee on BPL surveys , chaired by Supreme Court-appointed food commissioner N C Saxena, seek to double the population that benefits from the UPA���s social sector schemes ��� both existing as well as those on the anvil like the ambitious Food Security Act and enhanced pension schemes. The expansion of the social security net is bound to substantially increase government expenditure. .

At present, the Planning Commission estimates that only 28.3% of the population qualifies for BPL benefits.
While the recommendations of the Saxena committee are not binding, the former bureaucrat , who was also on the Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council, has emerged as a powerful voice on food policy .

The government may also be compelled to take a close look at his estimates because they are close to the tally compiled by states under the rural development survey.