Poverty Trends in India 2004-05 to 2009-10

The web version of this article corrects a few errors that appeared in the print edition.

A comparison of the consumption expenditure and associated nutritional intake data for 2009-10 with that of 2004-05 shows worsening poverty in terms of the percentage of people unable to reach the minimum required calories energy intake through their monthly spending on all goods and services. This result must be seen in the context of neo-liberal policy, the financial crisis and consequent global recession affecting export production, the rapid rise in food prices, declining employment growth, the drought of 2009-10, and in spite of a positive development like the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. It is argued that the decline claimed in the official poverty ratios is spurious.