This refers to T N Ninan’s column “Poverty redefined” (Weekend Ruminations, September 24). The debate on poverty is a strange one, with different economists giving us different figures. I have had the opportunity to attend a large number of seminars on poverty in which the main discussion has centred on the number of people living below the poverty line in India. But various economists give contrasting figures — some say 77 per cent of Indians are poor or below the poverty line, the World Bank puts the figure at 55 per cent and the Suresh Tendulkar Committee report says its 42 per cent. And then there are the Planning Commission’s figures that vary significantly. Recently, another crop of economists/social activists like Aruna Roy, Harsh Mander, N C Saxena and so on has been quick to criticise the government but can’t assess a figure that can replace Plan panel’s Rs 32/day poverty line. It is surprising that even as every economist or civil activist is busy estimating the number of poor, none of them can give us a clear picture.
S C Aggarwal, New Delhi
Readers should write to:
The Editor, Business Standard,
Nehru House,
4, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg,
New Delhi 110 002,
Fax: (011) 23720201;
letters@bsmail.in
All letters should have a postal address and telephone number
