The issue of poverty reduction in India has been a subject of debate for long. Following the initiation of economic reforms in 1991 the issue has gained added importance in that the question being asked is, has growth trickled down. The answer to the question has depended on the data used, and which data who has used has largely been guided by faith. Believers in National Sample Survey (NSS) hold that poverty has not come down whereas nonbelievers hold that poverty has come down rapidly in the 1990s.
