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Upward Revision of the Poverty Line: Some Implications for Poverty Analysis and Policies |
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V.M. Rao |
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Recent years have witnessed bitter controversies among academics and policy advisers about the extent of poverty in India and on the reliability and validity of official estimates of BPL population. The majority view seems to favour a revision in the poverty norm. There are indications that the Planning Commission itself is gradually veering towards accepting the need for revision. The purpose of this paper is to point out that such a revision in the norm needs to be part of a broader review of the current concepts and procedures used in poverty analysis to make the analysis more meaningful and to strengthen its role in policy-making. In the absence of a broader review, certain weaknesses could creep into policy analyses, a few of which are illustrated in the paper. |
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