Question

Which of the following fixes the poverty line in India?
1. Central Council of Ministers
2. Lok Sabha
3. Rajya Sabha
4. Planning Commission (Now Niti Ayog)

Answer 1

Correct Answer - Option 4 : Planning Commission (Now Niti Ayog)

The correct answer is the Planning Commission (Now Niti Ayog).

• The Planning Commission estimated levels of poverty in the country on the basis of consumer expenditure surveys conducted by the National Sample Survey Office of the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.
• A common method used to estimate poverty in India is based on the income or consumption levels and if the income or consumption falls below a given minimum level, then the household is said to be Below the Poverty Line (BPL).
• Poverty estimation in India is now carried out by NITI Aayog’s task force through the calculation of the poverty line based on the data captured by the National Sample Survey Office.
• Poverty line estimation in India is based on the consumption expenditure and not on the income levels
• In India, the first official rural and urban poverty lines at the national level were introduced in 1979 by Y. K. Alagh Committee and official poverty counts began for the first time.
• The Tendulkar poverty line remained the official poverty line for official poverty estimates in 1993-94, 2004-05 and 2011-12.