The Below the poverty Line (BPL) census, approved by the Union Cabinet, will be an exercise in identifying households that will fit the bill within the poverty cap of 46 per cent of the rural population of India.
It will be done through a set of automatic inclusion criteria and the remaining households will be classified through seven assigned deprivation indicators. The 46 per cent cap is lower than the 50 per cent suggested by the N.C.Saxena Committee. The poverty cap to qualify for social benefits during the 12th Five Year Plan will be decided later by the planning Commission and the Union government. With the modifications of the Saxena Committee recommendations, the preferential treatment to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes has been scaled down, while Muslims have been left out of this treatment.
