What is the full form of BPL:

BPL represents Below Poverty Line.

Below Poverty Line is mostly called as BPL. BPL is a benchmark set by the government of India to know the individuals and families which are not able to have the basic requirements of living. It can be called as a poverty threshold. BPL is an indication for the government to help and assist the people below this line. The parameters which define the BPL vary from state to state and also within states.

As per the International definition, an income which is less than $1.25 per day is defined as poverty. As per this definition, more than 32 percent population of India comes under the category of poor. BPL considers only the income which is required to fulfill the basic requirement of food; it does not consider other essentials like education, health, basic toilet facility etc.

In the year 1978, the poverty line was fixed for the first time, on the basis of income and food requirements. It was standardized that for an individual a basic calorie required in rural area is 2400 calories, where as urban areas it is 2100 calories. The cost of grains to fulfill this requirement was calculated. This cost was considered as the poverty line. In the year 1978, this cost was Rs. 61.80 per person for a single month in rural areas. For urban areas, the amount was Rs. 71.30. Since the year 1978, every year the Planning Commission of India calculates this value. This value varies due to the inflation.