New Delhi: A panel headed by former PMEAC Chairman C Rangarajan has dismissed the Tendulkar Committee report on estimating poverty and said that the number of poor in India was much higher in 2011-12 at 29.5 percent of the population, which means that three out of 10 persons are poor.
As per the report submitted by Rangarajan to Planning Minister Rao Inderjit Singh earlier, persons spending below Rs 47 a day in cities would be considered poor, much above the Rs 33-per-day mark suggested by the Suresh Tendulkar Committee.
As per the Rangarajan panel estimates, poverty stood at 38.2 percent in 2009-10 and slided to 29.5 percent in 2011-12. This is at variance with the Tendulkar methodology under which poverty was estimated at 29.8 percent in 2009-10 and declined to 21.9 percent in 2011-12.
In villages, those spending less than Rs 972 a month (Rs 32/day) would be considered poor. This is much higher than Rs 816 a month (Rs 27/day) recommended by Tendulkar Committee.
In absolute terms, the number of poor in India stood at 36.3 crore in 2011-12, down from 45.4 crore in 2009-10, as per the Rangarajan panel. Tendulkar Committee, however, had suggested that the number of poor was 35.4 crore in 2009-10 and 26.9 crore in 2011-12.
Bureau Report
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