Poverty estimates stumble on differing definitions of the household for statistical and policy purposes Officially, the Planning Commission accepted the Tendulkar committee’s report on revision of poverty estimates after the empowered group of ministers on food security asked the commission to issue a final estimate of poverty in the country. Despite the commission’s acceptance, the ministerial group asked it for another estimate of poor households. The simple reason is that the...

With an eye on the proposed National Food Security legislation, the government has set up an expert panel for identification of families living Below Poverty Line (BPL) in urban areas. The panel has been asked to submit its report in the next four months. The eight-member panel is headed by former Planning Commission member and economist S R Hashim and also includes Chief Statistician of India Pronab Sen as its...

The Indian Electricity Act, 2003, initially envisaged that the appropriate governments shall endeavour to supply electricity to all areas including villages and hamlets (Section 6), thus placing the responsibility for ensuring rural electricity supply on state governments. The UPA-I government amended this section to read as follows after detailed deliberations internally and with opposition parties: the concerned state government and the central government shall jointly endeavour to provide access to...

A government survey has showed wide disparity between male and female wage earners in the 15-59 age group both in urban and rural areas. The study conducted by National Sample Survey Office for 2007-08 said that while the average wage rate in rural areas was Rs 175.30 per day for males it was Rs 108.14 for females. Similarly, in urban areas, the average wage rate for males was Rs 276.04 per day...

Suresh Tendulkar created a flutter among policymaking circles when a committee led by him raised the estimate for poor households in the country to 74 million from the Planning Commission estimate of 65.2 million. The former chairman of the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council explained why his numbers are more credible in an interview with ET’s Pooja Suri and Amiti Sen. Excerpts: Why did your committee decide to accept the...