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Poverty - Statistics and Lies!

Posted Mon, 2010-01-25 21:43 by S Raghavan
Printer-friendly versionSend to friendPDF versionA new study by Abusaleh Shariff and Anirudh Krishna has brought fresh insights on whether poverty is decreasing or increasing. The study points out that the usual "head count ratio" of the poor is only a net effect of many people rising above the poverty line and many others descending below the poverty line. Examining a sample of 13,000 households spread all over India, it is found that over a period of 12 years between 1993-94 and 2004-05, 18% of the rural population moved out of poverty (according to the definition of poverty line) while another 22% fell into poverty! And guess in which states more people fell into poverty? Rural poverty rose in such high growth states as Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Tamilnadu and Maharshtra. The study has established that there is no clear correlation at the level of states and regions between high growth rates and high poverty reduction. The study recommends that rather than wait for GDP growth to magically reduce poverty, direct actions are required.

Comments

Hanna I's picture
by Hanna I - 30 Jun 2010 - 10:57

Thank you for sharing this great reading. What does poverty really mean? Well, poverty is an economic situation which refers to disability to afford even the basic needs of human, and we have been living with this mess. There are several factors that causes poverty such as graft and corruption. The political instability drives poverty to get worse, which resulted to several problems in health, education, housing, violence, and a lot more. However, there are ways to reduct poverty, good institution for instance. Good governance can lead to economic development, and that's what we need today.

uma's picture
by uma (not verified) - 19 Mar 2010 - 07:40
India's official poverty measure is based solely upon the ability to purchase a minimum recommended daily diet of 2,400 kilocalories (kcal) in rural areas where about 70 percent of people live, and 2,100 kcal in urban areas. Rural areas usually have higher kcal requirements because of greater physical activity among rural residents. The National Planning Commission, which is responsible for the estimate, currently estimates that a monthly income of about Rs. 356 (about US$7.74) per person is needed to provide the required diet in rural areas and Rs. 539 in urban areas. Factors such as housing, health care, and transportation are not taken into account in the poverty estimates - this is an indisputable but very shocking fact.
Paresh's picture
by Paresh (not verified) - 27 Jan 2010 - 18:43
I want to make two points here. a) Even if we leave the 22%, which fell into poverty, it is depressing to note that only 18% have moved above the bar over the period of 12 years. Is this "Shining India"? Are we saying that it is going to take another 100 years to take every poor out of the poverty; B) Let us come to the village and see the BPL list and then we will understand how believable these BPL surveys are
Surkhraj's picture
by Surkhraj - 25 Jan 2010 - 22:15
It is really interesting that the study actually recommends direct action! It's also worth noting that the general conception that high GDP means low poverty level need not necessarily be true.
Is it possible to give a link to information related to this study?