Pains of Office

used" (p 178). For example to convert data on individuals into consumer units according to age and sex, the 26th round of the NSS identified 12 age groups. By contrast, the ALE used only four age categories (Lusk's coefficients). Is the former level of sophistication justified? Dandekar thinks it is not. Dandekar also questions the use of the 28th round (1973-74) as the base year for the identification of a poverty line by the Planning Commission's Task Force. The sample size was relatively small in this round (15,467 rural households and 7,881 urban households) and the coverage was nine months rather than a year. These data were further disaggregated to construct state- specific poverty lines. In comparison, the 27th round had a sample of 72,270 rural and 52,820 urban households. As the estimates of poverty do depend on the choice of the base year, the use of the 28th round is unsatisfactory.