Yoginder K Alagh

Subject :Economy

Who was Yoginder K Alagh:

He was an Indian economist and Union Minister of State with independent charge of Power, Science & Technology and Planning & Programme Implementation during the United Front government in 1996-98.
He was the Chairman of Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA) from 2006 to 2012 and was the Chancellor of the Central University of Gujarat, Gandhinagar.
He headed the Agricultural Prices Commission (APC) as well the Bureau of Industrial Costs & Prices (BICP).
As chairman of APC (now called the Commission for Agricultural Costs & Price), he set up its econometrics cell, which recommends minimum support prices for different crops and also published its reports with a view to encourage debate.
At BICP, he initiated the first round of economic reforms that involved price decontrol in steel, cement and aluminium.
He also chaired a Planning Commission Task Force in 1979, which for the first time constructed separate poverty lines for rural and urban areas based on nutritional requirements i.e consuming less than 2,400 calories and 2,100 calories, respectively.
Alagh was executive vice-chairman of the Gujarat government’s Narmada Planning Group for the Sardar Sarovar multipurpose dam project in 1980-82,.
He had also served as a member of the Planning Commission between 1987 and 1990.

What is Alagh Committee on poverty estimation:

A task force was constituted by the Planning Commission under the chairmanship of YK Alagh, to construct a poverty line for rural and urban areas on the basis of nutritional requirements and related consumption expenditure.
Poverty estimates for subsequent years were to be calculated by adjusting the price level for inflation.
This approach was first of all adopted by the YK Alagh Committee’s recommendation in 1979 whereby, the people consuming less than 2100 calories in the urban areas or less than 2400 calories in the rural areas are poor.
The logic behind the discrimination between rural and urban areas was that the rural people do more physical work.
Moreover, an implicit assumption was that the states would take care of the health and education of the people.