Local Government in India

14

Urban Poverty Alleviation

There is no definite criterion to determine the extent of poverty in our country. According to the Planning Commission, 29.9 per cent of the population was living below the poverty line in 1987–88 and the poverty ratio for rural and urban areas was 33.4 per cent and 20.10 per cent respectively. The estimates are derived by drawing the poverty line at Rs 49.9 per capita per month (1973–74 prices), corresponding to a daily caloric requirement of 2,400 per person in the rural areas and an income of Rs 56.44 per capita per month, corresponding to a calorie requirement of 2,100 per head in the urban areas. These figures are, however, contestable as the United Nations Human Development Report (UNHDR) for 1990 found 48 per ...