PERCENTAGE OF PERSONS LIVING BELOW
THE POVERTY LINE IN URBAN AREAS DECLINES
RAJYA SABHA
The Planning Commission
has estimated that the percentage of persons living below the
poverty line in Urban areas has declined from 32.36 percent in
1993-94 to 23.62 percent in 1999-2000. This information was given
by Shri Pon. Radhakrishnan, Minister of State for Urban Development
& Poverty Alleviation in a written reply to the question of
Shri Thanga Tamil Selvan in Rajya Sabha today.
The Minister stated
that Ministry of Urban Development & Poverty Alleviation has
bveen implementing through the State Governments/Union Territories,
a Centrally Sponsored Urban Poverty Alleviation Programme, namely,
Swarna Jayanti Shahari Rozgar Yojana (SJSRY) on all India basis,
with effect from 1.12.1997. The programme aims at providing gainful
employment to the urban unemployed or under-employed poor through,
firstly, encouraging the setting up of self-employment ventures
by those, who have studied upto 9th standard and secondly,
by providing wage employment by utilizing their labour for construction
of socially and economically useful public assets. The scheme
is funded in the ratio of 75:25 between the Centre and the State.
The Minister
added that in so far as Ministry of Urban Development & Poverty
Alleviation is concerned, no time frame has been fixed for eradicating
poverty completely.
