Previous Year Question
Which of the following committees was set up in India for identification of BPL families in Urban Areas?
Tendulkar Committee
Saxena Committee
Lakdawala Committee
Hashim Committee
Correct Answer: D
Detailed Solution
The Planning Commission constituted an Expert Group under the chairmanship of Prof. S. R. Hashim in May 2010. Its specific purpose was to develop a suitable methodology for the identification of Below Poverty Line (BPL) families in urban areas.
An important distinction must be made between poverty estimation and identification of BPL households.
The Tendulkar Committee was primarily concerned with reviewing the methodology for estimating poverty and the poverty line.
The Saxena Committee dealt with methodology for identifying BPL households in rural areas. It was constituted by the Ministry of Rural Development in connection with the rural BPL Census.
The Lakdawala Committee was also associated with poverty-estimation methodology.
However, the household-level identification of urban BPL families was specifically assigned to the Hashim Committee.
The Hashim Committee submitted its final report to the Planning Commission on 24 December 2012. It recommended a three-stage identification process—
1. Automatic Exclusion — households clearly excluded on specified criteria.
2. Automatic Inclusion — severely deprived households directly included.
3. Scoring Index — assessment of remaining urban households on the basis of residential, social and occupational vulnerabilities.
Therefore, remember—
Rural BPL identification → Saxena Committee
Urban BPL identification → Hashim Committee