An expert panel on poverty level determination has been recommended: Minister

Government has recommended setting up an expert committee to determine the poverty line in India after the Arvind Panagariya-led task force failed to arrive at a consensus, planning minister Rao Inderjit Singh said.

“It is recommended that an expert committee be set up to arrive at an informed decision on the level at which the poverty line should be set,” planning minister Singh said in response to a question in Rajya Sabha.

According to the statement, the report of the task force stated that “a consensus in favour of either the Tendulkar or a higher poverty line did not emerge,” it said, adding that the task force has concluded that the matter be considered in greater depth by the country’s top experts on poverty before a final decision is made.


The government had in 2015 set up a task force on elimination of poverty under the chairmanship of the then NITI Aayog vice chairman Arvind Panagariya to develop a working definition of poverty.

The task force had primarily focussed on issues of measurement of poverty and strategies to combat poverty but failed to arrive at a consensus on the poverty line.

The Tendulkar Committee had in 2011-12 estimated poverty lines and poverty ratio based on the monthly per capita consumption expenditure. Accordingly, the poverty line at all India level was estimated as monthly per-capita consumption expenditure of Rs 816 for rural areas and Rs 1000 for urban areas.