Lok Sabha Question No. 2283 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2015-12-11
Subject: Poverty in India
Ministry: PLANNING
Asked by: RAGHAV LAKHANPAL, SUNIL KUMAR MONDAL, YOGI ADITYANATH, ANIRUDHAN SAMPATH, KAUSHALENDRA KUMAR, ELUMALAI VELLAIGOUNDER, BHAGWANTH KHUBA, RAJESH RANJAN  (PAPPU  YADAV), JOSE K. MANI, DUSHYANT CHAUTALA, ALOK SANJAR, BAHADUR SINGH KOLI, RAMSINH PATALYABHAI RATHWA

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF PLANNING

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2283 TO BE ANSWERED ON 11.12.2015

## POVERTY IN INDIA

## 2283.   SHRI RAGHAV LAKHANPAL:

SHRI SUNIL KUMAR MONDAL:

SHRI YOGI ADITYA NATH:

DR. A. SAMPATH:

SHRI KAUSHALENDRA KUMAR:

SHRI ELUMALAI V.:

SHRI BHAGWANTH KHUBA:

SHRI RAJESH RANJAN:

SHRI JOSE K. MANI:

SHRI DUSHYANT CHAUTALA:

SHRI ALOK SANJAR:

SHRI BAHADUR SINGH KOLI:

SHRI RAMSINH RATHWA:

Will the Minister of PLANNING be pleased to state:

- (a) whether one third of population of India are living Below Poverty Line (BPL) as per assessment of the World Bank;
- (b) if so, the details and State-wise present position thereof both in urban and rural areas separately;
- (c) the reaction of the Government thereto; and
- (d) the corrective and effective measures taken by the Government for upliftment of people living BPL?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) FOR MINISTRY OF PLANNING AND MINISTER OF STATE FOR DEFENCE

## (RAO INDERJIT SINGH)

- (a) & (b): No, Madam. The World Bank's Policy Research Note titled 'Ending Extreme Poverty and Sharing Prosperity: Progress and Policies' released in October, 2015, states that for 2011-12, India's poverty rate using Uniform Reference Period (30-day recall for consumption of both food & non-food items to measure expenditure) based consumption expenditure was 21.2 percent. It also mentions that the poverty rate for India based on Modified Mixed Reference Period (MMRP) (it modifies the 30-day recall  to  a  7-day  recall  for  some  food  items  and  to  a  1-year  recall  for  low-frequency  non-food consumption items) consumption expenditure translates to 12.4 percent for 2011-12. The World Bank has not released State-wise poverty estimates for urban and rural India separately.
- (c): The World Bank estimates poverty in the member countries on the basis of the international poverty line  in  order  to  monitor  progress  in  reduction  of  poverty  worldwide.  The  erstwhile  Planning

Commission did not use the international poverty norms set by the World Bank to estimate number of poor in the country primarily because international poverty line does not distinguish between rural and urban areas or between different States of the country.

(d): The Government has initiated various measures to improve the quality of life of the people and to reduce poverty in the country through direct intervention by implementing specific poverty reduction and  mitigation  programmes.  These  include  Prime  Minister's  Jan-DhanYojana  (PMJDY),  Mahatma Gandhi  National  Rural  Employment  Guarantee  Scheme  (MGNREGS),  National  Rural  Livelihoods Mission (NRLM), National Urban Livelihoods Mission (NULM), Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation Mission (AMRUT), Housing for All, National Health Mission (NHM), Sarva Sikhsha  Abhiyaan  (SSA),  Integrated  Child  Development  Scheme  (ICDS),  Mid-Day  Meal  Scheme (MDMS), Swachh Bharat Mission, National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP), Targeted Public Distribution  System  (TPDS)/  National  Food  Security  Act  (NFSA),  road  connectivity  through  the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti BimaYojana, the Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana, Atal Pension Yojana, etc. There are many other initiatives which are directly taken by the State Governments keeping in view the State and district-specific requirements. The  emphasis  of  the  Government  is  on  'Sabka  Saath,  SabkaVikas'  which  symbolizes  inclusive development.

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