MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT
(SADHVI NIRANJAN JYOTI)
(a) & (b) The erstwhile Planning Commission (now NITI Aayog) estimated poverty line on the basis 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. Based on the 68th round of Household Consumer Expenditure Survey, Planning Commission estimated poverty lines and poverty ratio in 2011-12 following the extant Tendulkar Committee methodology. According to this methodology, the number of persons living below poverty line in India has been estimated to be 27 crore in 2011-12. The poverty line was defined on the basis of Monthly Per Capita Consumption Expenditure (MPCE) as the criterion. For the year 2011-12, the poverty line at all India level has been estimated as Monthly Per-capita Consumption Expenditure of Rs. 816 for rural areas and Rs. 1000 for urban areas. The State/UT-wise details of population living below poverty line in 2011-12 are given at Annexure.
(c): 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 on 11th July, 2016. One of the Terms of Reference for the Task Force was to “Develop a working definition of 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.” No decision has been taken in this regard till now.
(d) The Government is following multi-pronged strategies for upliftment of the people and families living below poverty line. Department of Rural Development is undertaking various initiatives throughout the country (including Maharashtra) to address rural poverty and improve the economic well-being of the people in rural areas with the main focus on increasing livelihood opportunities, empowering rural women, providing social safety net, skilling of rural youth, infrastructure development etc through its various programmes viz., Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM), Deen Dayal Upadhyay– Gramin Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY), Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana – Gramin (PMAYG), Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), Shyama Prasad Mukherjee National RuRBAN Mission (SPMRM) and National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP).
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