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According tothe planning commission of India’s report of July 2013, the poverty rate hasdeclined from 37.2 % to 22 % from 2004-2005 to 2011-2012. Accordingly, the numbersof poor are 269.3 million of which 80 % live in rural areas. These are, nodoubts, are welcoming figure not only for Indians but also for the bigenterprises as the consumer market is expanding.
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However,there has been some criticism over the credibility of these figures as thepoverty rates have been calculated based on Tendulkar methodology. Tendulkarmethodology was devised by late Suresh Tendulkar, an Indian economist andformer chief of National Statistical Commission. The primary concern of themethodology’s critiques is the poverty line fixed by it in terms of spending.The poverty line is fixed as the spending of Rs.22.42 per person per day in rural areas and Rs.28.65in urban areas. There had been some real criticism over this methodology by BJPand other opposition parties like communist party as this methodology wasadopted in 2004-2005 by Congress government.
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However,situation is not that bleak as it seems. Congress snubbed the criticism byclaiming that even if the methodology is wrong, there is no doubt in thereduction of poverty in India in these seven years. Congress also defended themethodology by mentioning the fact that Tendulkar methodology was multidimensionaland also incorporates expenditures other than food. As a matter of fact, before2004, the poverty line only took into account the expenditure on food calories.For rural India this number was 2,400 calories. For urban India this number wasat 2,100 calories. Anyone consuming less than this was deemed to be poor.
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Another notable fact is that when the multi-dimensionalTendulkar methodology was adapted in 2004-2005, poverty ratio went up from 27.5percent to 37.2 percent and from then it came down to 22 % in 2011-2012. Hence,whether the methodology to measure poor people may be correct or not, thereshould be very less doubt that the poverty rate actually came down by almost15-18 % in those seven years.
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Ironically, the debate has led to nowhere in counting theactual number of poor in India. Nevertheless, the figures based on a study by Oxfordin 2010 are alarmingly far more deviated from what Planning Commission of Indiahas presented and present a totally different picture. The new index known asMultidimensional poverty index (MPI) has been developed by the Oxford Povertyand Human Development Initiative and UNDP. It will also replace the HumanPoverty Index that has been used in the UNDP’s annual Human Development Reportsince 1997. According to the study based on MPI index, 55 % of India’s population,i.e. 645 million, is living under poverty.
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As measuredby the new index, half of the world’s poor are in South Asia (51 percent or 844million people) and one quarter in Africa (28 per cent or 458 million). Whilepoverty in Africa is often highlighted, the Oxford research found that therewas more acute poverty in India than many African countries combined. Povertyin eight Indian states—Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa,Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal—exceeded that of the 26 poorestAfrican countries.
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On the otherhand, richer in India have amassed great wealth in the same era or fromindependence. According to Forbes list of US dollar billionaires in Indiajumped to 49 in 2010 than 24 in 2009.
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The *Financial Express commentedthat year: *“Thewealth amassed by Indian billionaires—estimated at 340.9 billion dollars by theUS business magazine Forbes—is nearly 31 percent of the country’s total GDP.This gives them nearly three times more weight in the economy than theirAmerican counterparts and over ten times of those in China. The GDP share ofIndian billionaires’ wealth is more than four times of the global average.”
[FONT=Times New Roman]Both the studies havegreater differences in the figures compiled. The world Bank study based on $ 1.25per capita income has also given totally different numbers than these two. In allthese modern days studies, the actual number of poor remains a myth. However, therising India and the responsible governments shall not ignore the rising gap toavoid exploitation of such a large junk of poor people in a world of greatdisparity.