‘Plan panel using Tendulkar Committee methodology to estimate poverty line’

As the debate rages on the poverty line criteria fixed by the planning commission, the government on Thursday in a written reply in Rajya Sabha said that the planning commission has been using the Tendulkar Committee methodology to estimate the poverty line and people living below the poverty line.

‘Based on this, the poverty line for year 2011-12 has been estimated as monthly per capita consumption expenditure (MPCE) of Rs 816 in rural areas and Rs 1,000 in urban areas. This amounts to monthly consumption expenditure of Rs 4,080 in rural areas and Rs 5000 in urban areas for a family of five at 2011-12 price,’ stated the Prime Minister’s Office in its reply.

The government further states that if the poverty line is converted to per capita per day basis it amounts to Rs 27.20 in rural areas and Rs 33.33 in urban areas. ‘It should be noted, however, that while this can be done as a pure arithmetical calculation, the consumption poverty line is not defined on a daily basis by the Planning Commission,’ stated the prime minister’s office in his reply.