(a) whether the implementation of various poverty alleviation programmes has failed to bring
any substantial changes in the living standard of people living Below Poverty Line (BPL) in
the country;
(b) if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor;
(c) the corrective measures taken/proposed to be taken in this regard; and
(d) the State-wise number of BPL people brought above poverty line during the last five years?
MINISTER OF THE STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT (SHRI PRADEEP JAIN `ADITYA`)
(a)to(c): The implementation of poverty alleviation programmes of the Ministry have a positive impact on the living
standards of the people living below the poverty line. The above fact has been brought out through various micro and
macro level evaluation studies. The poverty alleviation programmes of the Ministry have been restructured from time
to time on the basis of experience gained to make these programmes more focused and effective. The National Rural
Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) has been launched by replacing existing wage employment programmes.The Swarnjayanti
Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY) was restructured in 1999 to make it a holistic Self Employment programme under which
rural poor are organized into Self Help Groups, provided training for their capacity building and financial assistance
through subsidy and bank credit to set up economic activities which could generate sustainable income for them.
(d): The Planning Commission estimates the percentage and number of persons living Below the Poverty Line (BPL)
at national and state level, separately in rural and urban areas from the large sample survey on household consumer
expenditure conducted by the National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO) at an interval of approximately five years
following the methodology contained in the Report of the Expert Group on Estimation of Proportion and Number of Poor
(Lakdawala Committee).
The two latest comparable estimates of poverty are available for the years 1993-94 and 2004-05, estimated from the
large sample survey data on household consumer expenditure of the 50th Round (July 1993-June 1994) and 61st Round
(July 2004-June 2005) of the NSSO respectively. According to these, the number of people living below the poverty
line for the country as a whole is estimated to decline from 320.4 million (36% of the total population) in 1993-94
to 301.7 million (27.5% of the total population) in 2004-05. The number of people living above the poverty line for
the country as a whole increased from 570.3 million (64% of the total population) in 1993-94 to 795.4 million (72.5%
of the total population) in 2004-05. The state-wise estimate of the number of people living below the poverty line in
the country for 1993-94 and 2004-05 is annexed.