AHMEDABAD: For the first time, the upcoming Economic Survey of India will put forth the idea of Universal Basic Income (UBI) and explore the various challenges in implementing it across the country. This was revealed by the chief economic advisor to Union government, Arvind Subramaninan , who was invited to Sabarmati Ashram to speak on `Eliminating poverty and empowering the poor.' He was speaking in the presence of Gujarat governor O P Kohli . The talk was delivered as part of Mahtama Gandhi's 147th birth anniversary .Implementation of the UBI means the government depositing in every individual's bank account a fixed sum of Rs 10,000 or Rs 15,000 a year to eliminate poverty . “There are challenges in UBI. Questions like `Can the money reach the poor, most of whom have no bank accounts? Can we make it affordable for the government? Can we make sure the women (in the family) get the money?' need to be faced,“ said Subramanian. He also linked the proposed UBI with the thoughts and principles of Bapu. “What would Gandhiji have said to this idea of UBI.“While explaining the UBI concept, Subramanian said that the average income of a person in India is USD 800 to USD 900, in comparison to USD 52,000 in US and USD 12,500 in China. “ According to the latest poverty numbers, there are still about 200 million poor and very poor people in India,“ Subramanian said, adding that the proposed UBI can possibly replace the 1,000-odd schemes the government runs for poverty alleviation like, PDS, MGNREGA, Indira Awas Yojana and other such schemes.“Since independence, we have focused on individuals who are poor by virtue of birth -as dalits, adivasis. But today , poverty is also there because of accident of life and it's gaining in numbers,“ said Subramanian. “People are dragged into poverty due to droughts, declining agriculture opportunities, disease and so on. So the safety net provided by the government should be quite wide, and that is why this UBI has some merit,“ he added.