Poverty line has always been a work in progress in India. It has been a issue of great debate. How to determine it without coming out with an absurd idea of a living standard has been a huge challenge to the panning brains of our country. Last year there was a huge controversy with the planning commission of India coming out with figures of about Rs. 32 per month per head which was later reduced to Rs 27. Though lot of ridicule was invited with such announcement, the reality is that the figure was per head per month for a family of five which turn out to be about Rs 4000 per month. What perplexed me that while condemning planing commission for its insensitivity towards the poor, people easily sidelined the fact that there are more than 20 crore (200 million) people in India actually living with lesser income. So who should be given priority while being careful in drawing such a line which can be a matter of life and death in terms of the facilities being provided to the poor.
Today this idea struck me that why not have a continuum of poverty or economic status instead of a single 'in or out' line. I call it the "Rainbow of income". I have deliberately kept the term poverty out of it to keep it away from all the controversy but at the same time giving the better picture of the economic condition of the people and economic equality of the country as a whole. This is the initial thought and can be developed further.
Here is the outline of the concept of this Rainbow of Income which is like the VIBGYOR of the colours of the rainbow.
LINE FAMILY INCOME PER MONTH PRIORITY
Red line Rs 5,000 or less All basic needs with focus on survival as well as dignified life
Orange line Rs 5,000-Rs 10,000 Food, Water, Health, Basic education, Employment
Yellow line Rs 10,000-Rs20,000 Heath, Housing, Education, Employment, Skill development
Green line Rs 20,000-50,000 Higher education, Income security,Health insurance
Blue line Rs 50,000-100,000 Better services at a fee
Indigo line Rs 100,000-500,000 Better investment opportunities
Violet line Rs 500,000 and above Opportunities and incentive to contribute to the society
As you can see that these can be sub-grouped in poor, middle and rich class. The last line (violet line and Indigo lines) can be called Gold lines and Silver lines also respectively and I have left the Diamond line (billionaires) which is for the super rich. The items in the priority are indicative and can be expanded with due deliberation. The idea of an exclusion list is also very good in terms of targeting the government programs. However, I believe that all services should be as universal as possible. That would not only reduce targeting cost but also give everyone a sense of equality in terms of attention from the government. It is sometimes a little demotivating for a middle class person to know that her tax is funding the welfare schemes and she is not getting anything out of it. Although she may choose not to take those benefits but excluding her from the schemes she herself is funding may sound unfair to anyone. There is seemingly a conflict between individual rights over larger good but that conflict can be transformed in to a synergistic collaboration with due diligence.
