 bill no  21 of 2007 the persons living below poverty line (identification) bill, 2007 by shri  adhalrao shivaji patil, mp a billto provide for the identification of persons living below poverty line and for matters connected therewith or incidental theretobe  it enacted by parliament in the fifty-eighth year of the republic of india as follows:—short title and extent1  (1) this act may be called the persons living below poverty line (identification)act, 2007(2) it extends to the whole of indiadefinitions52  in this act, unless the context otherwise requires,—(i) "appropriate government" means in the case of a state, the government ofthat state and in all other cases, the central government;(ii) "board" means the board for identification of persons living below thepoverty line set up under section 3;10(iii) "list" means list of persons living below poverty line published by thenodal authority under section 7;(iv) "nodal authority" in relation to a district means the district collector of thatdistrict;(v) "person living below poverty line" means any person whose name has been published in the list by the nodal authority under section 10; and(vi) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this act5 3 (1) the central government shall set up a board to be known as the board for identification of persons living below poverty line(2) the prime minister shall be the ex-officio chairman of the board(3) the board shall consist of the following members—setting up of a board for identification of persons living below poverty line(i) the union minister of finance; (ii) the union minister of planning and statistics;10(iii) the union minister of rural development; (iv) the deputy chairman, planning commission; and (v) the ministers-in-charge of the government of states dealing with matters relating to planning15(4) for the effective implementation of this act, the board may engage the services of such consultants or specialists, as it may deem fit4 (1) it shall be duty of the board to fix the criteria to be applied for determining the persons living below poverty line(2) for the purposes of sub-section (1), the board shall take into consideration   the following factors, namely:—fixing of criteria to determine persons living below poverty line by the board20(i) the total income of the person; (ii) his family size; (iii) his monthly food consumption;(iv) the area of land holding, if any, held by him;(v) his indebtedness; (vi) such other factors, as the board may deem fit:25provided that the board may fix different criteria for the purpose of determining persons living below poverty line for different states and regions 5 the central government shall give wide publicity to the criteria fixed by the board to determine persons living below the poverty linepublicity to crtieria fixed by the board6 the board shall review the criteria fixed under section 4 once in every five years30review of criteria fixed by the board7 it shall be the duty of the nodal authority in every district to identify the persons living below the poverty line and publish the list, in such form and manner, as may be prescribed, of such personsnodal authority to identify and publish the list of persons living below poverty line8 (1) any person who meets the criteria fixed by the board under section 4 may apply, in such form and manner, as may be prescribed, to the nodal authority for inclusion of his name in the list of persons living below poverty lineapplication for inclusion of a name in the list5(2) on receipt of an application made under sub-section (1), the nodal authority shallcause an enquiry to be made, in such manner, as may be prescribed, within a period of thirty days(3) the nodal authority shall, if satisfied from the enquiry report, include the name of such person in the list of persons living below poverty line109 (1) any person, who objects to the inclusion or omission of any name in the list,may file a complaint with the nodal authority in such form and manner as may be prescribedcomplaint against inclusion or omission of aname in thelist(2) on receipt of a complaint made under sub-section (1), the nodal authority shall, after giving the complainant and the affected person an opportunity of being heard, dispose off the complaint in such manner as may be prescribed, within a period of thirty days from the date of receipt of such complaint1510 the nodal authority shall review and revise the list of persons living below povertyline in its jurisdiction from time to timereview and revision of the list11 notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time being in force, all persons whose names have been included in the list published by the nodal authority, shall be eligible to avail of the benefits of any welfare scheme or programme initiated by the appropriate government in the area under the jurisdiction of the nodal authority20welfare schemes or programmes initiated by the appropriate governmentpower to make rules12 the central government may, by notification in the official gazette, make rules for carrying out the provisions of this act statement of objects and reasonsdetermining the criteria for identification of persons living below the poverty line has always been a bone of contention, as no proper guideline has been issued by the government in this regard consequently, welfare schemes initiated by the government run into rough weather as these schemes do not reach the targeted sections of the societytherefore, it is necessary to identify the persons living below the poverty line and to extend the benefits of welfare schemes to them the bill seeks to provide for setting up of a board to be known as the board for identification of persons living below poverty line to fix the criteria for identification of persons living below the poverty line the criteria fixed by board can be used by the appropriate authority while extending the benefits of welfare schemes for poor persons launched by the appropriate governmentshence this billnew delhi;adhalrao shivaji patilnovember 8,  2006 financial memorandumclause 3 of the bill provides for setting up of a board to be known as the board for identification of persons living below poverty line to fix the criteria for identification of persons living below poverty line in the country clause 5 provides for wide publicity of the criteria fix by the board clause 7 provides, inter alia, for the publication of the list of persons living below poverty line by the nodal authority the bill, therefore, if enacted, will involve expenditure from the consolidated fund of india it is estimated that an annual recurring expenditure of about rupees one hundred crores is likely to be involved from the consolidated fund of indiaa non-recurring expenditure of about rupees five hundred crores is also likely to be involved memorandum  regarding  delegated  legislationclause12 of the bill empowers the central government to make rules for carrying out the purposes of the bill as the rules will relate to matters of detail only, the delegation of legislative power is of a normal character lok  sabha———— a billto provide for identification of persons living below poverty line and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto————(shri adhalrao shivaji patil, mp)mgipmrnd—265ls(s5)—20022007