To thrash out the exact methodologies to be adopted for the upcoming below poverty line (BPL) census, rural development ministry called for another meeting of experts on Wednesday.

Some of the issues discussed in the meeting were option of alternative methodologies, development of survey instruments like questionnaires and schedules, option of selection of villages for pre-testing the methodology, role of gram panchayats and gram sabhas, identification of appropriate agencies for pre-testing, selection of agencies to evaluate the pre test results, among others.   

“With different government and quasi government agencies giving different estimates of the percentage of BPL in the country, the methodology for the upcoming census for the XIth plan period assumes importance,” said an official from the ministry.

While the census was to have started early this year, the delay in arriving at a consensus on the methodology has delayed it further.

Since 1992, the RD ministry has conducted three BPL Censuses—1992, 1997, 2002-- in rural areas.  

For the fourth census, the ministry of rural development constituted an Expert Group committee, headed by former secretary NC Saxena, to advise the ministry on the suitable methodology for conducting the census. The Expert Group submitted its report to the ministry on 21st August, 2009.

The report of the Expert Group had been circulated among the states/UTs and the concerned central ministries for their comments that was received by the ministry recently.