One in three Indians live below the poverty line

Every third Indian is living below poverty line, says a new government study. The finding puts the incidence of poverty in the country at a high of 37 per cent of the population - 10 per cent more than earlier estimated. The states of Orissa and Bihar were the poorest, while Nagaland and Delhi have the least number of poor, says the  study by the expert group headed by the economist Suresh Tendulkar.Experts behind the study moved from the traditional method of asessing the number of people living in poverty by  measuring how many calories they eat, to one based on the amount of money spent by a person on specific household  goods. As many as 42 per cent of people living in India’s countryside survives on less than Rs 447,  or about £6 a month spending only so much on bare necessities such as food, fuel, light, clothing and footwear.Among people who live in the cities, 25.7 per cent are poor, who spend only Rs 578.8 the rough equivalent of £7.60 on essential needs. The group submitted the report earlier this week.

The group of experts was set up after the existing official estimates of poverty released by the Planning Commission in 2007 came under fire. According to previous estimates, poverty in India came down from 35.97 per cent in 1993-94 to 27.54 per cent in 2004-05.Although the Tendulkar report has estimated incidence of poverty at 37.2 per cent against the commission’s estimate of 27.5 per cent, it did say the estimates are “not comparable” as the former is based on a new basket of goods.Rajya Sabha, minister of state for planning said almost half of Orissa’s population is poor with 46.37 per cent of the people living below poverty line. “According to the latest available estimates based on large sample survey data on household consumer expenditure, 27.5 per cent people were living below the poverty line. In rural areas the poverty ratio was estimated as 28.3 per cent whereas in urban areas it was 25.7 per cent,” Mr Narayansamy said.Critics say that for all of India's impressive economic progress, the number of Indians living in extreme poverty is not declining fast enough.Unless India commits itself to greater social spending and intervention, it will be difficult to reduce poverty.

Among the causes ascribed for the high level poverty in India are its history under British rule, large population, and low literacy. Also important is India's social structure, including the caste system in India, and the role of women in Indian society. Economic growth has in the past been dampened by a dependence upon agriculture, and the economic policies adopted after its independence.

 By Hayley Jarvis for SOS Children