New Delhi: Poverty in the country has declined to 21.8 per cent in 2004-05 from 26.1 per cent in 1999-2000, according to the latest figures released by the Planning Commission on Wednesday.

However, in absolute terms, the number of those still living in poverty is a whopping 238.5 million.

The figures are based on the report of the 61st round of the National Sample Survey (NSS).

The decline is notably sharp in the rural areas where the percentage of those living below the poverty line (BPL) has come down to 21.8 per cent (2004-05) from 27.1 per cent in 1999-2000. The percentage in the case of the urban areas was 21.7. It was 23.6 per cent in 1999-2000, according to the estimates based on the Mixed Recall Period (MRP) — consumption distribution data.

This method involves estimating consumer expenditure data using 365-day recall period (reference period) for five infrequently purchased non-food items such as clothing, footwear, durable goods, education and institutional medical expenses and a 30-day recall period for the remaining items.

In terms of absolute numbers, of the 238.5 million people living under undesirable conditions, 170.3 million are in the rural areas and 68.2 million in the urban areas.

The Expert Group on Estimation of Proportion and Number of Poor of the Planning Commission also used the Uniform Recall Period (URP) system that involves consumption data of 30-day recall period for all items and is comparable to the 1993-94 figures. According to this estimation, the level of poverty declined to 27.5 per cent in 2004-05 from 36.0 per cent in 1993-94.

The level of poverty under the URP method in the rural areas fell to 28.3 per cent in 2004-05 from 37.3 per cent in 1993-94 and in the urban areas to 25.7 per cent from 32.4 per cent during the corresponding period.

Based on the URP consumption data, 301.7 million people are living below the poverty line — 229 million in the rural areas and 80.8 million in the urban areas.

Based on the MRP consumption data, Orissa is the poorest State with 39.9 per cent of people living below the poverty line. It is followed by Jharkhand (34.8 per cent), Bihar (32.5 per cent) and Madhya Pradesh (32.4 per cent). In absolute terms, the number of people living below the poverty line is 45.8 million in U.P, followed by Bihar (29 million) and Maharashtra (26 million).

Poverty levels are low in Chandigarh (3.8 per cent people living below the poverty line), Jammu and Kashmir (4.2 per cent) and Punjab (5.2 per cent). In Delhi, 1.6 million people are living below the poverty line, accounting for 10.2 per cent of the capital's population.

The percentage of those living below the poverty line is 15 per cent in Assam, 12.5 in Gujarat, 9.9 in Haryana, 17.4 in Karnataka, 11.4 in Kerala, 32.4 in Madhya Pradesh, 17.5 in Rajasthan, 17.8 in Tamil Nadu and 20.6 in West Bengal.

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