Poverty Rate Down to 21.9 Pct, Says Planning Commission

New Delhi: Virtually sticking to its earlier controversial way of calculating poverty figures, Planning Commission said the number of people living below the poverty line has shrunk in both urban and rural areas.

The number of people living below the poverty line has shrunk to 21.9 per cent in 2011-12 from 37.2 per cent in 2004-05 on account of increase in per capita consumption.

According to the Commission, in 2011-12 for rural areas, the national poverty line by using the Tendulkar methodology is estimated at Rs 816 per capita per month in villages and Rs 1,000 per capita per month in cities.

This would mean that the persons whose consumption of goods and services exceed Rs 33.33 in cities and Rs 27.20 per capita per day in villages are not poor.

Earlier, the Planning Commission had triggered a major controvery by saying anyone spending more than Rs 32 per day in urban areas was not poor. This criteria for fixing poverty line was criticised across the political spectrum as being unrealistic and unmindful of present day realities.