Rangarajan to head panel for reviewing poverty line -Governance Now

Rangarajan to head panel for reviewing poverty line

Government has decided to set up an expert technical group chaired by C Rangarajan

PTI | May 24, 2012

After facing flak for fixing poverty line at Rs 28.65 per capita daily consumption in cities, the planning commission on Thursday constituted an expert group headed by noted economist C Rangarajan to review the Tendulkar committee methodology for estimating poverty.

"Government has decided to set up an expert technical group chaired by chairman of prime minister's economy advisory council C Rangarajan to revisit the methodology for estimation of the poverty and identification of the poor," minister of state for planning Ashwani Kumar said in New Delhi.

He said that the expert group is expected to give its report in 7-9 months.

Outlining the need for revisiting the methodology for estimating poverty, Kumar said, "People's perspective about poverty has changed. Therefore, we need to take a fresh look into the methodology for estimation of poverty in the country."

"We don't send a letter through 20 paisa post card these days rather we call from our mobile phones to communicate.

Everybody wears reebok shoe and people ride scooter instead of cycles," he said, explaining about the changing lifestyle of people and their perspective about poverty.

The commission's estimates, based on Tendulkar committee methodology, that people consuming more than Rs 28.65 per daily in cities and Rs 22.42 in rural areas are not poor, had triggered a controversy which even rocked Parliament.

The members of expert group which would suggest alternative methods of estimating poverty are Mahendra Dev, director, Indira Gandhi institute of development research, K Sundaram, Mahesh Vyas from centre for monitoring Indian economy and former advisor (perspective planning) planning commission K L Datta.

Comments

Other News

Maharashtra adopts hybrid model for Census 2026 data collection

The government has initiated preparations for Census 2026 in Maharashtra, introducing a hybrid approach that combines optional self-enumeration with comprehensive door-to-door data collection to ensure complete coverage across the state. According to senior officials, the Self-

What the nine Indian Nobel winners have in common

A Touch Of Genius: The Wisdom of India’s Nobel Laureates Edited by Rudrangshu Mukherjee Aleph Books, Rs 1499, 848 pages

Income Tax dept holds Ghatkopar Outreach on new IT Act

The Income Tax Department organised an outreach programme in Ghatkopar, Mumbai, to raise awareness about the key features of the Income Tax Act, 2025, effective April 1, 2026. The initiative is part of a nationwide effort to promote taxpayer awareness, simplify compliance, and strengthen a transparent, eff

Making AI work where governance is closest to people

India’s next governance leap may not solely come from digitisation. It will come from making public systems more intelligent, more adaptive, and more responsive to the dynamics at the grassroots. That opportunity is especially significant at the panchayat level, where governance is not an abstract po

Borrowing troubles: How small loans are quietly trapping youth

A silent crisis is playing out in the pocket of young India, not in stock markets or government treasuries, but in smartphones of college students and first-jobbers who clicked on the Apply Now button without reading the small print. A decade ago, to take a loan, you had to do some paperwor