36garh or Chattisgarh - Part 2 - Poverty Line or Starvation Line

I decided to start with poverty, as this is what we need to get rid of. We all know what poverty is, but probably not the government of india – which in order to show progress has come up with what I would call a keep them from dying line or a starvation line. I say this, because when we keep hearing reports on how poverty has reduced from 40% to 26%; we need to understand what the hell do they mean and it is best explained by Dilip D’Souza at http://www.indiatogether.org/2006/mar/ddz-povline.htm  -

A gist follows:

The definition according to the Government's Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation: "The official estimates of the poverty line are based on a norm of 2400 calories per capita per day for rural areas and 2100 per capita per day for urban areas."

Something important to note here: it's not that your expenditure on food - the portion of your earnings that you spend on food - had to be more than this amount for you to be recognised as being above the poverty line. No, the definition assumed that your entire earnings had to be more than the amount. That is, the official definition of the poverty line assumed that you spend all your money on food. Keep that in mind.

So what we are saying is that if your total earnings amounted to more than Rs 540 a month, you were not considered poor. We are saying that if you earned, let's say, Rs 600 a month, out of which you paid Rs 540 for food, you were not considered poor. And it is by this calculation that we estimate that 26 per cent of India is below the poverty line; that we are pleased that that number has declined from 36 to 26.

Even if for a moment we were to accept this ridiculous argument, this is hardly an achievement, as the rate of decline of poverty since 1973 has been at a dismal 0.81% per annum. If we were to add healthcare, electricity, kerosene for black-outs, clothing and other expenditure, the 540 would go up to 840 a month, meaning about 68% of India is below the poverty line.

So one can safely conclude that the number of poor are nowhere close to what the GOI claims but at least double (if you disagree, you can go and count ) – the idea is poverty is widespread and far from eradicated in a country

• where the SENSEX has gone from 4,000 to 20,000 in the last decade,

• the second fastest growing economy in the world;

• humongous forex reserves,

• overflowing foodgrains in the FCI godown;

• some of the world’s smartest people as reflected in all the software kids and MBAs

If you need more proof, sample this

• 35 per cent of the population consumes less than 80 per cent of its minimum human energy requirements,


• where 9 out of 10 pregnant women suffer malnutrition and anaemia, and, in consequence,


• 47 per cent of children under the age of 5 are moderately to severely undernourished