The latest report by Rangarajan committee has added almost 100 million more people to the list of poor The expert committee set up by the Planning Commission last year under C Rangarajan, former chairperson of of Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council, has redefined the poverty line. According to the report of the committee, the new poverty line should be Rs 32 in rural areas and Rs 47 in urban areas. The earlier poverty line figure was Rs 27 for rural India and Rs 33 for Urban India (see table). The Rangarajan report has added 93.7 million more to the list of the poor assessed last year as per the Suresh Tendulkar committee formula. Now the total number of poor has reached 363 million from 269 million in 2011-12. This raise in the poverty line income bar means 93.7 million more people are now below poverty line (BPL). The Planning commission had set up the five-member expert group under Rangarajan to review the methodology for measurement of poverty. The committee was set up in the backdrop of national outrage over the Planning Commission’s suggested poverty line of Rs 22 a day for rural areas.

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