Poverty test - 3

Tendulkar methodology defines poverty not in terms of annual income, but in terms of consumption or spending per individual over a certain period for a basket of essential goods.

In India, defining a poverty line has been a controversial issue, especially since mid-1970s when the first such poverty line was created by the erstwhile Planning Commission. It wasbased on minimum daily requirement of 2,400 and 2,100 calories for an adult in rural and urban areas, respectively.

Jawahar Gram Samridhi Yojana (JGSY) is the restructured, streamlined and comprehen­sive version of the erstwhile Jawahar Rozgar Yojana (JRY). Launched on 1st April 1999, it has been designed to improve the quality of life of the rural poor by providing them additional gainful employment.

VAMBAY stands for “Valmiki Ambedkar Aawas Yojna”. It is a  central govt. sponsored programme for the slum dwellers living in different towns and cities all over the country. The  central govt. provides the funds for construction. Integrated with the above programme  is another central govt. scheme i.e. Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan, a programme aimed at providing  basic toilet facilities to the urban poor at a bare minimal cost.

In India, defining a poverty line has been a controversial issue, especially since mid-1970s when the first such poverty line was created by the erstwhile Planning Commission. It wasbased on minimum daily requirement of 2,400 and 2,100 calories for an adult in rural and urban areas, respectively.

Suresh Tendulkar Committee defined the poverty line on the basis of monthly spending on food, education, health, electricity and transport. According to this estimate, a person who spends Rs. 27.2 in rural areas and Rs. 33.3 in urban areas a day are defined as living below the poverty line.The Rangarajan panel considered people living on less than Rs. 32 a day in rural areas and Rs. 47 a day in urban areas as poor.

Suresh Tendulkar Committee defined the poverty line on the basis of monthly spending on food, education, health, electricity and transport. According to this estimate, a person who spends Rs. 27.2 in rural areas and Rs. 33.3 in urban areas a day are defined as living below the poverty line. The Rangarajan panel considered people living on less than Rs. 32 a day in rural areas and Rs. 47 a day in urban areas as poor.

A minimum income level used as an official standard for determining the proportion of a population living in poverty is called poverty line.

National Food for Work Programme was launched in 14th November 2004 in 150 most backward districts of the country, identified by the Planning Commission in consultation with the Ministry of Rural Development and the State Governments. The objective of the programme was to provide additional resources apart from the resources available under the Sampoorna Grameen Rozgar Yojana (SGRY) to 150 most backward districts of the country so that generation of supplementary wage employment and providing food security through creation of need based economic, social and community assets in these districts are further intensified.

Subsistence Minimum is a minimum level of income, which is considered to be necessary to ensure sustenance and other basic personal needs at a level allowing the individual to survive.