-The Times of India Even as the opposition accused the government of tampering with poverty figures, Planning Commission stuck to its stand that poverty had declined by 7.3% between 2004-05 and 2009-10, a period when the Congress-led UPA has been in power. "You can put whatever poverty line you want, the fact is... the decline in poverty is twice the decline in the previous 11 years," Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh...

-The Hindustan Times The planning commission has released poverty data based on the 66th round of the National Sample Survey (2009-10) on household consumer expenditure survey. According to the new estimate, number of poor in India were 29.8% in 2009-10, down from 37.2% in 2004-05. The data is based on the daily per capita consumption of Rs 28 in urban cities and Rs 22 in rural areas in 2009-10. The same for June...

-The Hindustan Times The Planning Commission on Tuesday admitted of a serious flaw in the National Sample Survey data and national accounts, which led to pegging the poverty line at Rs 28 per capita daily consumption in cities. Plan panel deputy chairperson Montek Singh Ahluwalia said the discrepancy between the consumer survey, on whose basis the poverty number were derived, and national accounts was a serious statistical problem. The commission...

-The Times of India Diversion of foreign contribution by NGOs is not limited to the 12 organizations whose cases were referred for probe recently. The muck, in fact, runs much deeper with official figures showing that the government has taken action against at least 160 voluntary bodies, including referring 24 cases to CBI and seven to different state police for investigation in the past three years. Besides, 70 NGOs have been prohibited...

Montek Singh says he is willing to revise poverty estimates on the basis of expert opinion Though the incidence of poverty has come down over five years from 2004-05 to 2009-10, it is a startling fact that inequality has increased, with fewer people controlling income. Union Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia admitted on Tuesday that income distribution was not at the desired level and inequality increased in both rural and...