(a) whether the Government proposes to redefine the poverty line;
(b) if so, the details thereof;
(c) the date on which poverty line was last defined/revised;
(d) the reasons for not defining/ revising the poverty line in the present changing scenario; and
(e) the reaction of the Government in this regard?
MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) OF THE MINISTRY OF PLANNING
AND MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF CHEMICALS & FERTILIZERS
(RAO INDERJIT SINGH)
(a) to (e) Pursuant to the decision taken in the first meeting of the Governing Council of NITI Aayog held under the Chairmanship of Hon’ble Prime Minister on 8th February, 2015, a Task Force on Elimination of Poverty in India was constituted by NITI Aayog on 16th March, 2015 under the Chairmanship of Dr. Arvind Panagariya, former Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog. The report of the Task Force was submitted to Prime Minister’s Office on 11th July, 2016. The report of the Task Force primarily focuses on issues of measurement of poverty and strategies to combat poverty. Regarding estimation of poverty, the report of the Task Force states that “a consensus in favour of either the Tendulkar or a higher poverty line did not emerge. Therefore, the Task Force has concluded that the matter be considered in greater depth by the country’s top experts on poverty before a final decision is made. Accordingly, it is recommended that an expert committee be set up to arrive at an informed decision on the level at which the poverty line should be set”. The report of the Task Force is under consideration of the Government.
At present the official poverty estimates are based on data of Large Sample Surveys on Household Consumer Expenditure carried out by the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) of the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation. The latest data of Large Sample Survey on Household Consumer Expenditure has been collected by NSSO in its 68th round conducted in 2011-12. The latest poverty estimates have been computed for 2011-12 following the extant Tendulkar methodology and these have been released through a Press Note issued on 22nd July 2013.
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