New Delhi, Sept 30: Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council (NAC) members Aruna Roy and Harsh Mander on Thursday asked Planning Commission deputy chairperson Montek Singh Ahluwalia to either withdraw the Planning Commission's affidavit on the new poverty line norms from the Supreme Court or resign, says an Indian Express report.
The NAC members, in an open letter to Ahluwalia, also equated the new Below Poverty Line norms — that if a person's spending exceeds Rs 32 a day in an urban area or a villager purchases goods worth more than Rs 26, then he cannot be counted as poor — to the NDA's India Shining campaign of 2004.
“The right to food campaign challenges you and all the members of the Planning Commission to live on Rs 25 or Rs 32 a day till such time that you are able to explain to the public in simple words the basis of the statement that this amount is normatively ‘adequate'. If it cannot be explained then the affidavit should be withdrawn or else you should resign,” says the steering group of Right to Food campaign, which also includes civil society activist Binayak Sen and former NAC member Jean Dreze.
Cautioning the Planning Commission against the potential repercussions of the affidavit, the letter also reminds that the BJP-led NDA bit the dust in the 2004 Lok Sabha elections due to its India Shining campaign.
“We believe this affidavit is a document, no less historically significant than the ‘India Shining ‘ campaign that brought the downfall of a previous regime, because it reflected arrogance and contempt for the poor comparable to the views held by the Planning Commission,” the steering group, which has been on the forefront demanding almost uniform universal legal food entitlements under the proposed national food security law, states.
The letter, released to the media on Thursday, also assumes significance as it makes personal attacks against Ahluwalia, a close confidante of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
“Mr Ahluwalia, perhaps you need to reflect more on the fact that during your stewardship of the Planning Commission, India has fallen behind neighbouring and poorer (in terms of per capita income) Bangladesh, in terms of most of the human development indicators,” the letter says.
