Consider the following statements regarding poverty in India: While

Consider the following statements regarding poverty in India:

  • While determining poverty line in India, a minimum level of food requirement, clothing, footwear, fuel and light, educational and medical requirements, etc. are determined for subsistence.
  • The accepted average calorie requirement in India is 2400 calories per person per day in rural areas and 2100 calories per person per day in urban areas.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct ?

1 only
2 only
Both 1 and 2
Neither 1 nor 2
This question was previously asked in
UPSC CDS-2 – 2023
The correct answer is C) Both 1 and 2.
Statement 1 is correct. While determining the poverty line in India historically and currently, the expenditure on a minimum level of basic needs including food, clothing, footwear, fuel and light, education, and medical requirements is considered for subsistence.
Statement 2 is correct. The accepted average calorie requirement used historically in India for poverty estimation was indeed 2400 calories per person per day in rural areas and 2100 calories per person per day in urban areas, as recommended by expert groups like the Task Force on Projections of Minimum Needs and Effective Consumption Demand (1979). This calorie norm was a key basis for calculating poverty lines in the past.
Later committees like the Tendulkar Committee and the Rangarajan Committee moved towards using expenditure-based poverty lines that implicitly account for these needs, but the calorie norms mentioned in statement 2 were a significant part of the methodology in earlier approaches to poverty estimation in India.