Gehlot steals a march on Modi in poverty reduction

Rajasthan has not only broken its Bimarou shell by bringing poverty level down to less than half the average of four fellow 'sick' states but also beaten some of the celebrated stories like Gujarat

The much-touted Gujarat model of Narendra Modi has lagged Ashok Gehlot's Rajasthan in reducing poverty between 2004-05 and 2011-12. The poverty rates of both the states had come below the national average of 21.9 per cent (meaning, proportion of people below the poverty line, or BPL) in 2011-12.

Gujarat had 16.6 per cent of its population as BPL in 2011-12. It was 14.7 per cent in Rajasthan, according to the latest figures on poverty, yet to be officially released by the Planning Commission. In 2004-05, Gujarat's BPL proportion was 31.6 per cent of population; it was 34.4 per cent in Rajasthan. Meaning, a decline of 19.7 percentage points in Rajasthan, versus 15 percentage points for Gujarat.

In rural Gujarat, the BPL percentage declined from 39.1 to 21.5 per cent; in rural Rajasthan, from 35.8 to 16.1. However, Gujarat had less of BPL in urban areas than Rajasthan in 2011-12. While 10.1 per cent of the population was poor in Gujarat's towns, it was 10.7 per cent in urban Rajasthan. Even here, though, the reduction was steeper in Rajasthan. The rate in Gujarat was 20.1 per cent in its towns in 2004-05; it was 29.7 per cent in urban Rajasthan.
(FIGHTING POVERTY)

In the 1980s, Rajasthan was part of the Bimaru (Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh), an acronym that phonetically alludes to the word 'sick'. No longer, if these poverty estimates are taken into account.

Although Rajasthan had less percentage of people in poverty in 2004-05 as well than the national average, it was the reverse in urban areas. India's poverty rate was 37.2 per cent in 2004-05, of 25.5 per cent in urban areas and 42 per cent in rural parts. In 2011-12, it was 13.7 per cent in urban areas and 25.7 per cent in villages, nationally. Against this, 10.7 per cent of people in towns and 16.1 per cent in villages of Rajasthan were poor that year.

"The story of Rajasthan is significant as the poverty reduction is consistent over the years there," said Amitabh Kundu of the Centre for the Study of Regional Development, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi.

This can give ammunition to the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government to argue its case for having reduced poverty than other regimes (incidentally, Rajasthan is a Congress-ruled state). Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had on Friday trumpeted his government's achievements in reducing poverty in both its stints. "The percentage of (BPL) population declined at 0.75 percentage points per year before our government came to office in 2004-05. It has fallen more than two percentage points per year between 2004-05 and 2011-12," he'd said.

Madhya Pradesh is to also go to the Assembly polls, as does Rajasthan, later this year. It had 31.7 per cent of the population in poverty in 2011-12, much higher than the national average. However, 48.6 per cent people were poor in the state way back in 2004-05. So, the reduction was 16.9 percentage points over these seven years.

While 35.7 per cent of rural people were BPL, 21 per cent in towns were poor in MP. The comparative rates in 2004-05 were 53.6 per cent in villages and 35.1 per cent in towns and cities.

Uttar Pradesh, another Bimaru state, had 29.4 per cent of its population living in poverty in 2011-12, comprising 26.1 per cent in towns and 30.4 per cent in villages. The overall level was 40.9 per cent in 2004-05. Poverty in towns saw a drop of eight percentage points from 34.1 per cent in 2004-05. Villages saw the BPL population fall from 42.7 per cent in 2004-05.

Bihar also had more percentage of population as poor than the national average in 2011-12, at 33.7 per cent. In villages, 34.1 per cent were BPL; it was 31.2 per cent in urban areas. In 2004-05, it was 55.7 per cent in villages and 43.7 per cent in towns. The Bimaru acronym was coined by economist Ashish Bose in a paper presented in the 1980s to then prime minister, Rajiv Gandhi, to describe poor economic conditions in Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.

Later, Odisha was added and the acronym expanded to Bimarou. (Since then, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Uttarakhand have been formed out of Bihar, MP and Uttar Pradesh, respectively).

On the poverty rate, Odisha saw a steep decline over seven years but it still has to do more to come to the national average. As many as 32.6 per cent of the people were poor in 2011-12 in the Naveen Patnaik-ruled state; it was 57.2 per cent in 2004-05.

Odisha had 35.7 per cent of the rural population as BPL in 2011-12, compared with 60.8 per cent in 2004-05. In urban Odisha, the BPL proportion declined from 37.6 per cent in 2004-05 to 17.3 per cent.