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Difficulty: EasyPoverty Estimation, Inequality Metrics, and Inclusive Growth Strategies

Consider the following statements regarding the methodology recommended by the Suresh Tendulkar Committee for poverty estimation in India:

1. The committee recommended moving away from poverty lines anchored purely to calorie consumption.
2. The committee introduced a uniform Poverty Line Basket (PLB) based on urban consumption specifications across both rural and urban areas.
3. The committee advocated returning exclusively to the 30-day Uniform Reference Period (URP) for data collection.

Which of the statements given above are correct?

  1. The committee recommended moving away from poverty lines anchored purely to calorie consumption.Answer
  2. The committee introduced a uniform Poverty Line Basket (PLB) based on urban consumption specifications across both rural and urban areas.Answer
  3. C
    The committee advocated returning exclusively to the 30-day Uniform Reference Period (URP) for data collection.
  4. D
    The committee excluded private expenditure on health and education from the poverty line basket calculations.

Answer

The correct statements are that the Suresh Tendulkar Committee recommended moving away from calorie-consumption anchors and introduced a uniform Poverty Line Basket across both rural and urban areas.
The statements highlighting that the Suresh Tendulkar Committee moved away from calorie-based anchoring and introduced a uniform Poverty Line Basket across rural and urban sectors are correct because the committee sought to modernize poverty measurement by explicitly accounting for health and education expenses while ensuring spatial parity.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Evaluate Statement 1 regarding calorie consumption anchoring.
Statement 1 is correct. The Suresh Tendulkar Committee (2009) criticized the old calorie-based norm (2400 kcal rural / 2100 kcal urban) and decoupled poverty estimation from calorie intake.
Calorie intake alone did not correlate reliably with nutritional outcomes or health status.
2
Evaluate Statement 2 regarding the Poverty Line Basket (PLB).
Statement 2 is correct. The committee used the urban consumption basket as the uniform baseline for both rural and urban India.
Using a uniform basket allowed price differentials to reflect spatial variations in living costs accurately.
3
Evaluate Statement 3 regarding reference periods.
Statement 3 is incorrect. The committee recommended using the Mixed Reference Period (MRP) instead of the 30-day Uniform Reference Period (URP).
MRP captures low-frequency consumption (e.g., clothing, footwear, durables, education, institutional medical care) over a 365-day recall period.

Key Concept

Suresh Tendulkar Committee Methodology on Poverty Estimation
Estimated Time:1m 0s
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Topics

Poverty Estimation, Inequality Metrics, and Inclusive Growth Strategies