Previous Year Question

The Planning Commission was the Nodal Agency responsible for preparing poverty estimates at the national and state levels in India. It was established on 15 March 1950 through an Executive Resolution of the Government of India. It was a non-constitutional and non-statutory body.

The major functions of the Planning Commission included formulating Five Year Plans, assessing resources, determining development priorities, and preparing poverty estimates at the national and state levels.

For poverty estimation, the Planning Commission used Household Consumption Expenditure data collected by the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO). Based on these data, Poverty Lines and Poverty Ratios were determined for rural and urban areas.

Various expert committees were constituted to review the methodology of poverty measurement in India. Prominent among them were the D. T. Lakdawala Committee (1993), Suresh D. Tendulkar Committee (2009), and C. Rangarajan Committee (2014). These committees examined aspects such as consumption expenditure, price levels, and expenditure on essential goods and services in determining the poverty line.

India's poverty ratios for 2011–12 according to the Tendulkar Methodology:

These figures were released by the Planning Commission in July 2013 and were based on the Household Consumption Expenditure Survey conducted during the 68th round of the NSSO (2011–12).

The Ministry of Rural Development conducted the BPL Census to identify households living below the poverty line in rural areas. This function was different from preparing official poverty ratio estimates at the national and state levels.

On 1 January 2015, the Planning Commission was replaced by NITI Aayog. Therefore, in the context of 2014, the Planning Commission was the Nodal Agency for poverty estimation at the national and state levels.