Lok Sabha Question No. 310 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-07-19
Subject: Official Poverty Line
Ministry: RURAL DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Bhavana Gawali (Patil), Krupal Balaji Tumane, Arvind Ganpat Sawant

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT

## LOK  SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 310 ANSWERED ON 19/07/2022

## OFFICIAL POVERTY LINE

## 310. SHRIMATI BHAVANA PUNDALIKRAO GAWALI: SHRI KRUPAL BALAJI TUMANE: SHRI ARVIND GANPAT SAWANT:

Will the Minister of RURAL DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government can provide the details of the official poverty line used in the country to estimate the population below the poverty line;
- (b) if so, the details thereof and the present status of all the States in the country;
- (c) whether the Government proposes to update the  official  poverty  line  and  if  so,  the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor; and
- (d) the  corrective  steps  taken  by  the  Government  for  the  upliftment  of  the  people  and families living below the poverty line and the present action plan being implemented in different States including Maharashtra?

## ANSWER

## 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  68 th 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 16 th March, 2015 under the chairmanship of Dr. Arvind Panagariya, former Vice Chairman, NITI  Aayog.  The  report  of  the  Task  Force  was  submitted  on  11 th 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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## Annexure referred to in reply to Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 310 due for answer on 19.07.2022

## Number and Percentage of Population Below Poverty Line By States - 2011-12 (Tendulkar Methodology)

|                        | Rural           | Rural                  | Urban           | Urban                  | Total           | Total                  |
|------------------------|-----------------|------------------------|-----------------|------------------------|-----------------|------------------------|
| S. No. States          | %age of Persons | No. of Persons (lakhs) | %age of Persons | No. of Persons (lakhs) | %age of Persons | No. of Persons (lakhs) |
| 1 Andhra Pradesh       | 10.96           | 61.80                  | 5.81            | 16.98                  | 9.20            | 78.78                  |
| 2 Arunachal Pradesh    | 38.93           | 4.25                   | 20.33           | 0.66                   | 34.67           | 4.91                   |
| 3Assam                 | 33.89           | 92.06                  | 20.49           | 9.21                   | 31.98           | 101.27                 |
| 4 Bihar                | 34.06           | 320.40                 | 31.23           | 37.75                  | 33.74           | 358.15                 |
| 5 Chhattisgarh         | 44.61           | 88.90                  | 24.75           | 15.22                  | 39.93           | 104.11                 |
| 6 Delhi                | 12.92           | 0.50                   | 9.84            | 16.46                  | 9.91            | 16.96                  |
| 7Goa                   | 6.81            | 0.37                   | 4.09            | 0.38                   | 5.09            | 0.75                   |
| 8 Gujarat              | 21.54           | 75.35                  | 10.14           | 26.88                  | 16.63           | 102.23                 |
| 9 Haryana              | 11.64           | 19.42                  | 10.28           | 9.41                   | 11.16           | 28.83                  |
| 10 Himachal Pradesh    | 8.48            | 5.29                   | 4.33            | 0.30                   | 8.06            | 5.59                   |
| 11Jammu &Kashmir       | 11.54           | 10.73                  | 7.20            | 2.53                   | 10.35           | 13.27                  |
| 12 Jharkhand           | 40.84           | 104.09                 | 24.83           | 20.24                  | 36.96           | 124.33                 |
| 13 Karnataka           | 24.53           | 92.80                  | 15.25           | 36.96                  | 20.91           | 129.76                 |
| 14 Kerala              | 9.14            | 15.48                  | 4.97            | 8.46                   | 7.05            | 23.95                  |
| 15Madhya Pradesh       | 35.74           | 190.95                 | 21.00           | 43.10                  | 31.65           | 234.06                 |
| 16 Maharashtra         | 24.22           | 150.56                 | 9.12            | 47.36                  | 17.35           | 197.92                 |
| 17 Manipur             | 38.80           | 7.45                   | 32.59           | 2.78                   | 36.89           | 10.22                  |
| 18 Meghalaya           | 12.53           | 3.04                   | 9.26            | 0.57                   | 11.87           | 3.61                   |
| 19 Mizoram             | 35.43           | 1.91                   | 6.36            | 0.37                   | 20.40           | 2.27                   |
| 20 Nagaland            | 19.93           | 2.76                   | 16.48           | 1.00                   | 18.88           | 3.76                   |
| 21 Orissa              | 35.69           | 126.14                 | 17.29           | 12.39                  | 32.59           | 138.53                 |
| 22 Punjab              | 7.66            | 13.35                  | 9.24            | 9.82                   | 8.26            | 23.18                  |
| 23 Rajasthan           | 16.05           | 84.19                  | 10.69           | 18.73                  | 14.71           | 102.92                 |
| 24 Sikkim              | 9.85            | 0.45                   | 3.66            | 0.06                   | 8.19            | 0.51                   |
| 25 Tamil Nadu          | 15.83           | 59.23                  | 6.54            | 23.40                  | 11.28           | 82.63                  |
| 26 Tripura             | 16.53           | 4.49                   | 7.42            | 0.75                   | 14.05           | 5.24                   |
| 27 Uttar Pradesh       | 30.40           | 479.35                 | 26.06           | 118.84                 | 29.43           | 598.19                 |
| 28 Uttarakhand         | 11.62           | 8.25                   | 10.48           | 3.35                   | 11.26           | 11.60                  |
| 29 West Bengal         | 22.52           | 141.14                 | 14.66           | 43.83                  | 19.98           | 184.98                 |
| 30 Puducherry          | 17.06           | 0.69                   | 6.30            | 0.55                   | 9.69            | 1.24                   |
| 31A &NIslands          | 1.57            | 0.04                   | 0.00            | 0.00                   | 1.00            | 0.04                   |
| 32 Chandigarh          | 1.64            | 0.004                  | 22.31           | 2.34                   | 21.81           | 2.35                   |
| 33 Dadra &Nagar Haveli | 62.59           | 1.15                   | 15.38           | 0.28                   | 39.31           | 1.43                   |
| 34Daman &Diu           | 0.00            | 0.00                   | 12.62           | 0.26                   | 9.86            | 0.26                   |
| 35 Lakshadweep         | 0.00            | 0.00                   | 3.44            | 0.02                   | 2.77            | 0.02                   |
| All India              | 25.70           | 2166.58                | 13.70           | 531.25                 | 21.92           | 2697.83                |

Notes:  1. Population as on 1 st March 2012 has been used for estimating number of persons below poverty line.(2011 Census population extrapolated)

2. Poverty line of Tamil Nadu has been used for Andaman and Nicobar Island.
3. Urban Poverty Line of Punjab has been used for both rural and urban areas of Chandigarh.
4. Poverty Line of Maharashtra has been used for Dadra & Nagar Haveli.
5. Poverty line of Goa has been used for Daman & Diu.
6. Poverty Line of Kerala has been used for Lakshadweep.