The Planning Commission today said poverty in India declined 7.3 percentage points to 29.8% of the population over five years to 2009-10.
Poverty in rural areas declined at a faster pace than in urban cities between 2004-05 and 2009-10, according to the Planning Commission estimates released today.
The total number of poor in the country has been estimated at 34.47 crore in 2009-10, as against 40.72 crore in 2004-05.
"The all India head count (HCR) ratio has declined by 7.3 percentage points from 37.2% in 2004-05 to 29.8% in 2009-10, with rural poverty declining by 8 percentage points from 41.8% to 33.8% and urban poverty declining by 4.8 percentage point form 25.7% to 20.9%," said an official statement.
The sharp decline in poverty of over 10 percentage points was witnessed in Himchal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Uttarakhand.
The data revealed that the poverty has increased in North-eastern states of Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram and Nagaland, the statement said.
Some of the bigger states, such as Bihar, Chhattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh have shown only marginal decline in poverty ratio, particularly in rural areas.