Understanding the Indian Economy from the Post-Reforms of 1991, Volume II

CHAPTER 7

Poverty in India: Nature, Dimension, and Policy Measures

This chapter analyzes an important problem of the Indian economy—poverty—covering various facets of it.

Concept of poverty: Poverty refers to the lack of access to basic things like food, clothing, and shelter and is measured in terms of a poverty line, and what fraction of the population is below that line. It is measured by defining a threshold level of expenditure (or income) required to purchase goods and services necessary to satisfy basic needs at the minimal socially acceptable level. This threshold level of expenditure is called the poverty line and the proportion of population living below it is called the ­poverty ratio (NITI Aayog 2019a). Since 1979, India has regularly ...