-PTI Rejecting widespread criticism for pegging poverty line at Rs 28.65 daily consumption, Plan panel Deputy Chairman Montek singh Ahluwalia on Saturday asserted that the number of poor in the country has come down irrespective of the method of calculation. "..whatever poverty line you choose. The question is poverty in the country is going down. Some people have said that it is not correct..poverty is not going down..I reject that view...I categorically...

-PTI The World Bank will not reduce financial assistance to India for poverty alleviation measures because of the recent official data that showed a decline in the number of poor people in the country. The international funding agency takes a long-term view on its commitments and the poverty data released on Monday will not have any bearing on that commitment, World Bank Country Head, Mr N. Roberto Zagha, told PTI on the...

-The Economic Times Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia on Tuesday blamed faulty data provided by NSSO for the low poverty threshold in the country. The poverty line for 2009-10 has been pegged at Rs 29 per day per capita expenditure for urban population and at Rs 22 per day per person for rural population, which has invited widespread criticism. NSSO could be severely understating national consumption expenditure, Ahluwalia said. “Earlier, the NSSO...

-The Economic Times The country's main planning body on Thursday said it will take a re-look at the just-released poverty figures, which have drawn widespread criticism for its criteria and even elicited concern from the prime minister. The Planning Commission said it will set up a new technical group in the next three months to re-visit the Suresh Tendulkar methodology of estimating poverty and devise a new measure of poverty that will...

-The Times of India The Centre on Thursday junked the Planning Commission's poverty definition with PM Manmohan Singh saying that there was a need to devise another method. "We need a multi-layered approach to assess poverty estimates. The Tendulkar Committee estimates have been followed for 30 years but not an inclusive estimate. It (Tendulkar report) is not satisfactory," Singh said on the sidelines of the Padma Awards function. A new team will devise...