Patna, July 24: The figures released by the Planning Commission which suggests the below poverty line (BPL) of Bihar has dropped by over 20 per cent between 2004-05 and 2011-12 is an “achievement” the state government does not want to gloat about.

“We do not know how the commission has come up with such figures without taking into account the socio-economic ground realties of the state. We came out with a figure of 1.37 crore families in Bihar in the BPL list with each family consisting of four members. Presuming that the population of Bihar is around 11 crore, the BPL population would be over 50 per cent. God knows how they came up with the 33 per cent figure,” said food and consumer protection minister Shyam Rajak.

Ever since Nitish Kumar came to power in Bihar, he has been at loggerheads with the Centre over the BPL population in the state.

Despite high GDP growth rate during his regime, Nitish complained that the Centre was providing foodgrain and kerosene to only 65 lakh families hailing from the BPL population, when the actual number of families crossed 1.25 crore. He has been demanding more subsidised foodgrain and kerosene for the BPL population in Bihar.

At present, the state ministry of rural development is engaged in conducting a socio-economic caste survey.

“The survey is 96 per cent complete and we will be uploading the family profiles in all districts on the website to invite objections and amendments. But we presume that the population of BPL in rural Bihar will be around 1.24 crore. Once the survey is completed, we would get a correct picture of the BPL population in Bihar,” said rural development minister Nitish Mishra.

“However, you can expect the BPL population much higher than the 33 per cent projected by the Planning Commission. The quantity of subsidised foodgrain and kerosene given to states by the Centre for the poor will depend on it,” said an officer with the rural development department.

“The Planning Commission has made a mockery of the poor. In rural areas, Rs 27.2 is inadequate for food. The arithmetic has been done on the basis of the Tendulkar Committee report. The methodology of the committee has been questioned and a Rangarajan Committee has been formed to look into the matter, which is expected to give its report the next year,” said Patna University professor of economics N.K. Choudhary.

He added that the figures have more political implications than showing the ground realty.

“There is a message that despite corruption, inflation and price rise, the central government has brought poverty levels down,” he added.

Referring to the reduction in the number of families living below poverty line in Bihar, senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi today termed the figures “ridiculous” saying it is based on the Tendulkar Committee report that has been already discarded by the country.

“This is not new. This is being done keeping in mind the 2014 elections. The entire country, including eminent economists, has discarded the Tendulkar Committee report. The figures are ridiculous,” Modi, who also held the finance portfolio in the erstwhile NDA government, said.

Stating that the government has not considered the figures of 2012-13 fiscal because of low national economic growth, Modi said the Centre, which intends to implement food security bill through which 80 crore people would be provided with food cover, would now have to give funds/grains to less number of households in the state.