INSIGHT UPSC QUIZ

GS Economy Miscellaneous
Q.

In post-independent India, there have been several attempts to work out a mechanism to identify the number of poor people in the country. In this context, which of the statements given below is/are correct?

1. The existing mechanism for determining the poverty Line in India does not take into consideration social factors that sustain poverty. 

2. The government uses Monthly Per Capita Income (MPCI) as a measure for income of households to identify the poor.

3. ‘Head Count Ratio’ is the number of poor estimated as the proportion of people below the poverty line.

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

Explanation:

ANSWER: (A)

Statement 1 is correct.

  • There are many factors, other than income and assets, which are associated with poverty; for instance, the accessibility to basic education, health care, drinking water and sanitation. 
  • They need to be considered to develop Poverty Line. The existing mechanism for determining the Poverty Line also does not take into consideration social factors that trigger and perpetuate poverty such as illiteracy, ill health, lack of access to resources, discrimination or lack of civil and political freedoms. 

Statement 2 is not correct.

  • There are many ways of measuring poverty. One way is to determine it by the monetary value (per capita expenditure) of the minimum calorie intake that was estimated at 2,400 calories for a rural person and 2,100 calories for a person in the urban area. 
  • Based on this, in 2011-12, the poverty line was defined for rural areas as consumption worth Rs 816 per person a month and for urban areas it was Rs 1,000. Though the government uses Monthly Per Capita Expenditure (MPCE) as proxy for income of households to identify the poor 

Statement 3 is correct.

When the number of poor is estimated as the proportion of people below the poverty line, it is known as ‘Head Count Ratio’.

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