Gurugram: Is it symptomatic of Haryana’s inequitable wealth distribution? Or, is the yardstick for identifying poverty flawed? Or, is it the case of too many ‘ghost’ beneficiaries in the public distribution system? The jury is still out, but Haryana’s below the poverty line (BPL) numbers despite its high per capita income are puzzling to say the least.
While NITI Aayog claims that India’s poverty rate is below 7.5 percent, the country’s third-richest state tells a different story. Here, nearly 2.10 crore people—or 75 percent of its estimated population of 2.8 crore—falls below the poverty line.
Welcome to Haryana—which follows its own norms and reinvents statistics.
Haryana’s per capita income in current prices in 2023-24 reached Rs 3.25 lakh, a 10 percent increase from the previous year, according to NITI Aayog. This ranks it behind only Telangana (Rs 3.56 lakh) and Karnataka (Rs 3.29 lakh).
However, the state’s BPL figures tell a different story. According to data from the state’s food, civil supplies, and consumer affairs department, the proportion of Haryana’s population below the poverty line surged from 70 percent to 75 percent in just three months—between November and January.
In January 2023, Haryana had increased the income threshold for BPL families from Rs 1.20 lakh to Rs 1.80 lakh per annum, expanding the scope for families to qualify as BPL. While many states boast about reducing poverty, Haryana appears to be inflating its BPL figures. Could this have been a tactic to extend BPL benefits to a majority of the state’s population ahead of the assembly elections held in October 2024?
This question was asked by Senior Congress leader Kumari Selja in early January, when she alleged that most BPL cards were issued just before the elections.
Moreover, opposition parties have questioned how a state with such a high per capita income could have such a large proportion of its population in the BPL category. In November when this issue rocked the Haryana assembly during its winter session, the total number of BPL people was 1.98 crore, nearly 70 percent of the total population. At the time, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Mahipal Dhanda had argued that the rise could be attributed to the revision of the BPL income limit.
In contrast, Haryana’s neighbouring states have a much lower per capita income. Punjab has a per capita income of Rs 1.96 lakh in 2023-24, Rajasthan Rs 1.67 lakh, and Uttar Pradesh Rs 93,514 against the national figures of Rs 1.84 lakh.
According to the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India, the percentage of BPL population stood at 8.4 percent for Punjab, 22.1 percent for Rajasthan and 32.8 percent for UP.
However, according to the ministry’s data, Haryana’s BPL percentage is just 14 percent, as opposed to the state’s own estimate of 75 percent.
A senior IAS officer from Haryana, speaking to The Print on condition of anonymity explained that the heightened BPL numbers being shown by Haryana was based on Parivar Pehchan Patra, and the state government had given benefits of the BPL scheme to people who had shown an annual family income of less than Rs 1.80 lakh per annum.
Haryana’s per capita income has increased year-by-year from Rs 2.29 lakh in 2020-2021, to Rs 2.64 lakh in 2021-22 and Rs 2.96 lakh in 2022-23, according to a Press Information Bureau (PIB) report issued on 24 July, 2023. However, according to the Haryana food, civil supplies, and consumer affairs department, there are around 49 lakh families with over 2 crore people in the BPL category.
Additionally, 2.89 lakh families with over 10 lakh people are under the Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY), which targets the poorest of the poor, and 1.27 lakh families with over 5.28 lakh people fall under the Above Poverty Line (APL) category.
Given Haryana’s population of 2.8 crore, as estimated by the state’s food, civil supplies, and consumer affairs department, nearly 75 percent of the population is living below the poverty line. According to the 2011 Census, the state has a population of 2.54 crore.
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Sops for BPL families
According to a food and civil supplies official, BPL households get 5 kg of free foodgrain per person under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY). Though the scheme was initially launched during Covid, the Centre had extended this scheme for 5 years from January 2024.
Besides this, the Haryana government gives a slew of other benefits to those living under the BPL category.
While presenting Haryana’s budget for 2024-25, the then chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar, who was also the finance minister, made a separate subheading of the category ‘Gareeb and Antyodaya’ in his budget speech to announce benefits for them.
Under the Dayalu scheme, financial assistance was provided to poor families following the death of a family member aged between 6 and 60. In the 2023-2024 period, a total of 8,087 families received cash support amounting to Rs 310 crore. Additionally, 38,568 families were granted loans under the Antyodaya Parivar Utthan Yojana.
Khattar also announced an allocation of Rs 600 crore to provide free bus travel for 22.89 lakh poor families, each with an annual income of Rs 1 lakh or less.
Under the Chirayu Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana, families with an annual income of less than Rs 1.80 lakh were issued 1.11 crore Ayushman Bharat cards in 2023-24. Of these, 5.21 lakh individuals benefited from healthcare support totaling Rs 765 crore.
Khattar also announced a subsidy of Rs 60,000, along with an additional financial support of Rs 50,000, for families with an annual income of less than Rs 1.80 lakh for installation of rooftop solar panels of 2 kilovolt.
For the year 2024-25, the budget estimates provided revenue receipts of Rs 1.16 lakh crore.
“If we take this data at face value, it points to extreme economic disparity in Haryana’s society,” political analyst Mahabir Jaglan told The Print. “The figures suggest a vast gap between the income of the top 25 percent (around 70 lakh individuals) and the bottom 75 percent (around 210 lakh individuals). Such disproportionate economic disparity should be a matter of significant social and political concern. However, neither the NITI Aayog data nor the Haryana government data can be considered reliable.”
“It is implausible that Haryana’s per capita income increased by 10 percent in a single year. The NITI Aayog may have followed a distorted methodology similar to that of the National Statistical Organisation, which reportedly included free rations distributed to 80 crore people under the poverty line in consumer expenditure data. This approach could have inflated per capita income figures for the state,” he suggested.
The food and supplies data showing that 2.10 crore people in Haryana are below the poverty line, also raises serious doubts, he added.
“This appears to be a result of fake ration cards and Parivar Pehchan Patras (family IDs) created to artificially boost the number of free ration beneficiaries ahead of the recent elections by the BJP government,” Jaglan observed.
“During a visit to my village in July 2024, I was surprised to learn from locals that multiple IDs were created within a single household. In many cases, only the father was shown as the property owner, while the sons were assigned separate IDs with landless or BPL status. Families with substantial land and property were thus converted into beneficiaries with the upcoming election in sight.”
N.K. Bishnoi, a professor of economics at Hisar’s Guru Jambheshwar University of Science and Technology, said the numbers available suggest that poverty may have dropped to negligible levels in Haryana.
“The NITI Aayog’s National Multidimensional Poverty Index 2023 places Haryana’s poverty at 7.07 percent. On the other hand, the January 2025 SBI report highlights a significant decline in India’s rural poverty from 25.7 percent in 2011-12 to 4.86 percent in 2022-23, and urban poverty from 13.7 percent to 4.09 percent over the same period. Although the SBI report does not provide specific poverty data for Haryana, improving consumption expenditure trends in both rural and urban areas indicate that poverty may have dropped to negligible levels,” Bishnoi told ThePrint.
The Haryana government’s poverty estimates, which are based on family ID data, are challenging to cross-check with documentary evidence, he added.
“These figures, while used to determine eligibility for state benefits, are not comparable with estimates from the NITI Aayog or other sources. Official poverty calculations are traditionally based on consumption expenditure data gathered through the Household Consumption Expenditure Survey. The last such survey was conducted in 2011-12, and the results from the 2022-23 survey are awaited. Until these are released, the state may rely on its own criteria to define poverty,” he asserted.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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Throughout India, people are poor. Poverty lines in India are very low compared to rest of the world
Getting rice, wheat doesn’t mean they are poor
Haryana is a cesspool. It has always been one ever since it’s creation.
The 3rd per capita income is solely due to Gurgaon. Exclude Gurgaon from Haryana and it’s economic and social indicators would mirror that of Bihar.