Apropos the article “BPL census to assess poverty better” (October 6), the poverty line, as defined currently, is not a good measure because it is one-dimensional and calculates only the nutritional needs of a person or a family to survive. Much better measures are the Human Development Indices because these assess progress on many fronts. Take, for example, the rate of maternal mortality during childbirth. It measures progress, or the lack of it, not only in the area of nutrition, but also in access to health care, education, clean drinking water and sanitation. Similarly, the infant mortality rate is an indicator of progress in a range of areas.
These indicators are multi-dimensional and measure the all-round progress that a nation makes. When such indices already exist, why do we need a poverty line?
V B Bhatia, on email
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