<p>Responding to the outcry against the Tendulkar Committee’s estimation of poverty, the Centre on Thursday constituted a new panel under C Rangarajan, chairman of Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council, to workout a changed methodology for poverty estimation and identification of poor.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The committee will submit its report in seven to nine months. The committee will comprise four more members, including Mahendra Dev (of Indira Gandhi Institute for Development Research), K Sundaram (formerly with Delhi School of Economics), Mahesh Vyas (Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy) and K L Datta (former advisor to the Planning Commission). <br /><br />Poverty ratio declines <br /><br />The cut-off of Rs 29 (spending capacity) per day per person in cities and Rs 22 in villages suggested by Tendulkar Committee to determine the number of people living below poverty line had drawn all round flak and also opposed by the BJP and the Left parties.<br /><br />Data of people below poverty line released by Planning Commission showed the poverty ratio in the country coming down from 37.2 per cent in 2004-05 to 29.8 per cent in 2009-10. As a result, the number of poor people in the country shrunk from 40.7 crore in 2004-05 to 35.5 crore in 2009-10.<br /><br />Tendulkar Committee submitted its report in 2009 and in March this year, the Planning Commission released its estimation of poor using Tendulkar methodology.<br /><br />“Taking note of the various points of view and perspectives expressed in the public domain with respect to the need to revisit poverty estimates and related methodologies, Government has since decided to set up an Expert Technical Group,” said the Planning Commission on Thursday.</p>
<p>Responding to the outcry against the Tendulkar Committee’s estimation of poverty, the Centre on Thursday constituted a new panel under C Rangarajan, chairman of Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council, to workout a changed methodology for poverty estimation and identification of poor.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The committee will submit its report in seven to nine months. The committee will comprise four more members, including Mahendra Dev (of Indira Gandhi Institute for Development Research), K Sundaram (formerly with Delhi School of Economics), Mahesh Vyas (Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy) and K L Datta (former advisor to the Planning Commission). <br /><br />Poverty ratio declines <br /><br />The cut-off of Rs 29 (spending capacity) per day per person in cities and Rs 22 in villages suggested by Tendulkar Committee to determine the number of people living below poverty line had drawn all round flak and also opposed by the BJP and the Left parties.<br /><br />Data of people below poverty line released by Planning Commission showed the poverty ratio in the country coming down from 37.2 per cent in 2004-05 to 29.8 per cent in 2009-10. As a result, the number of poor people in the country shrunk from 40.7 crore in 2004-05 to 35.5 crore in 2009-10.<br /><br />Tendulkar Committee submitted its report in 2009 and in March this year, the Planning Commission released its estimation of poor using Tendulkar methodology.<br /><br />“Taking note of the various points of view and perspectives expressed in the public domain with respect to the need to revisit poverty estimates and related methodologies, Government has since decided to set up an Expert Technical Group,” said the Planning Commission on Thursday.</p>
