an Eldis Resource
Unravelling a conceptual muddle: India’s poverty statistics in the light of basic demand theory
Exploring the basis of India's official poverty statistics
Authors:
S. Subramanian
Publisher:
Economic and Political Weekly, India, 2005
This article explores the ‘identification’ problem of India's poverty measurement and ways in which this methodology (or variants of it) may continue to mislead assessments of income poverty.
The author argues that claims of a declining trend in poverty remain to be substantiated. Nevertheless, it is still possible to assess the changes in deprivation over-time through examining poverty statistics such as life expectancy, infant mortality, literacy levels, nutritional status, housing availability and infrastructural development. Additionally, the author also suggests that misconceptions about the statistical profile of poverty are likely to distort assessments of related programmes, policies and general approaches to development.
As much as these statistics suggest secular improvements in levels of wellbeing, the rate of improvement has been sub-optimal, particularly for poorer countries.
