New Delhi: The sharp erosion in the value of money and the spiralling prices of essential items may have Played havoc with people's lives, mak- ing it difficult for them to maintain | their living standards, but the gov- In an astounding position before the SC, it has held that one has to earn. only Rs 455 a month in urban areas and Rs 328 in rural areas to escape the ‘Poor tag. “At present, on 1999-2000 prices, the poverty line at all-India lev- el is Rs 327.56 and Rs 454.11 for rural and urban people per capita per month davit In the government's scheme, the Earn Rs 455 a month? 15, November, 2608 , ToL Dhananjay Mahapatra | Twn You re not poor | means, if your daily earnings cross Rs17in Delhi, Rs 18in Mumbai, Rs 14 in Kolkata and Rs 16 in Chennai, you are among those fortunate not to be ‘counted by the government as poor. ‘The health affidavit was in response to a petition filed by an. NGO ‘Azadi Bachao Andolan’, which aed te goverment of bel utterly non-serious towards alleviat tng bovetty ia telare fe contre the rapidly increasing population. these low incomes to classify a person as poor, the govern- ment has identified a hiige chunk — ‘over 26 crore — as poor because they Btateto state To clasity a5 poor inthe dan’ even Gah this paltry sum, poverty line drawn on the basis of i monthly income varies widely from