The BPL full form is Below Poverty Line. The government of India uses the Below Poverty Line as a criterion for determining economic disadvantage and identifying individuals and households in need of government help and relief. It is calculated using a variety of characteristics that differ from state to state and even within states. The current criteria were developed as a result of a poll performed in 2002. India’s central government is unsure of the criteria for identifying families living below the poverty line as it prepares for a ten-year survey.
B = Below
P = Poverty
L = Line
Extreme poverty is defined as an income of less than $150 per day per person in purchasing power parity on a global scale. According to this figure, 12.4 percent of Indians are extremely impoverished. Income-based poverty lines take into account only the bare minimum income required to meet basic food needs and do not take into consideration additional necessities such as health care and education.
There are nine criteria in Kerala. BPL families are those who lack access to four or more characteristics. The following are the nine parameters for urban areas:
- No land or land worth less than five cents
- There is no house or it is a decaying dwelling.
- There is no sanitation latrine.
- An uneducated member of the family
- There is no one in the family who works on a regular basis.
- There is a lack of safe drinking water.
- a home headed by a woman or the existence of widows or divorcees
- Scheduled castes and tribes (SC/ST) are two types of scheduled castes and tribes.
- A family member who is mentally retarded or impaired
Kerala’s social welfare system for those living in poverty has undergone substantial adjustments. Prior to 1997, over 95 percent of Kerala’s families had a ration card and could take advantage of the Public Distribution System’s benefits (PDS). The recipients were “equitably distributed across income categories in both rural and urban areas,” with “fair price shops” easily accessible in both urban and rural areas, and “no individual needed to walk more than 2 kilometers” to get rice and wheat. Kerala’s PDS system was one of the most effective in the country, and as a result, Kerala was one of the top states in terms of reducing overall poverty.