Question : Poverty Line

Will the Minister of PLANNING be pleased to state:

(a) the efforts made by the Government to determine poverty line after report of the committees headed by Vice-Chairman, NITI Aayog;

(b) the number of persons living below the poverty line in the country at present;

(c) whether there is a need to conduct a fresh survey for defining the poverty line in the country in a new manner;

(d) if so, whether the Government has set up or proposes to set up an expert committee in this regard;

(e) if so, the details and the outcome thereof along with the reaction of the Government thereto; and

(f) the time by which the new norms/ criteria for setting up of poverty line are likely to be introduced?

MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) FOR MINISTRY OF PLANNING AND
MINISTER OF STATE FOR MINISTRY OF URBAN DEVELOPMENT AND
MINISTRY OF HOUSING & URBAN POVERTY ALLEVIATION

(RAO INDERJIT SINGH)

(a) to (f) The Task Force on Elimination of Poverty in India under the Chairmanship of Dr. Arvind Panagariya, Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog submitted its report to Prime Minister’s Office on 11th July, 2016. The Task Force in its report has inter-alia, stated 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 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. These surveys are normally conducted on quinquennial basis. 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 poverty estimates for 2011-12 have been computed following the extant Tendulkar methodology and these have been released through a Press Note issued on 22nd July 2013. For 2011-12, number of persons living below poverty line in the country has been estimated as 27 Crore.
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