A task force has recommended that an expert committee be set up to arrive at an informed decision on the level at which the poverty line should be set, the Lok Sabha was informed. 

Union minister Rao Inderjit Singh said that the Task Force on Elimination of Poverty in India under the Chairmanship of Dr Arvind Panagariya, Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog submitted its report to Prime Minister’s Office on July 11, 2016. 

Read: Eradicating poverty in India a Sisyphean task  

The task force in its report has inter-alia, stated that “a consensus in favour of either the Tendulkar or a higher poverty line did not emerge. Therefore, the Task Force has concluded that the matter be considered in greater depth by the country’s top experts on poverty before a final decision is made. Accordingly, it is recommended that an expert committee be set up to arrive at an informed decision on the level at which the poverty line should be set.” 

The official poverty estimates are based on data of Large Sample Surveys on Household Consumer Expenditure carried out by the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) of the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation. These surveys are normally conducted on quinquennial basis.

 The latest data of Large Sample Survey on Household Consumer Expenditure has been collected by NSSO in its 68th round conducted in 2011-12. The poverty estimates for 2011-12 have been computed following the extant Tendulkar methodology and these have been released through a Press Note issued on July 22, 2013.

 For 2011-12, number of persons living below poverty line in the country has been estimated as 27 crore.