NEW DELHI: Congress leader Rasheed Masood on Thursday said that one can have a full meal in Delhi for Rs 5. This comes after another Congress leader, Raj Babbar said a hearty meal in Mumbai can be bought for Rs 12. Both remarks drew sharp reaction from the Opposition, which dubbed it "laughable".
Babbar said this at an AICC briefing in response to a volley of questions as he tried to explain that poverty has come down even as prices have risen.
He was also asked about lower cutoff of expenditure limit to determine poverty and that how can the poor have their full meal two times with a daily expenditure as low as Rs 28 or Rs 32 per day.
"People should have full meals two times a day. How one can have it is a very good question that you have asked. Even today in Mumbai city, I can have a full meal at Rs 12. No no not bada paav. So much of rice, daal saambhar and with that some vegetables are also mixed," he told reporters.
Planning Commission figures of poverty reduction in India triggered a furore with the BJP and the CPI-M accusing the government of ignoring reality and Congress ally NCP also expressing its reservations.
To a question about rising prices of vegetables mainly tomato, Babbar said, "if we assess poverty by tomato, then it will be difficult. You may not be having tomato in cities but the poor people in villages will pluck a tomato and have it. Tell me whether he is rich or poor."
"We are not shying away from the issue of price rise. Prices have risen but along with that the per capita expenditure has also risen... More than the ratio of price rise, our expenditure has risen," he said.
The Planning Commission on Tuesday showed that the percentage of people below poverty line declined sharply to 21.9 in the 2011-12 financial year from 37.2 recorded in 2004-05.
The national poverty line, by using the Tendulkar methodology, has been estimated at Rs 816 per capita per month in villages and Rs 1,000 per capita per month in cities.
This means that people whose daily consumption of goods and services exceed worth Rs 33.33 in cities and Rs 27.20 in villages did not fall in the poverty category.