Our Obsession with Poverty Line
In the debate on Poverty Line the point is often made that the we need Poverty Line as a measure of the progress made by the country over time and across regions. But the Poverty Line as defined at present does not seem to be a good measure, because it is one-dimensional in that it measures only the nutritional needs of a person or a family to survive. Much better measures are the Human Development Indices (HDI), because they measure progress on many fronts. Take, for example, the rate of maternal mortality during childbirth. It measures progress, or lack of it, not only in the area of nutrition, but in many other areas such as access to healthcare, education, clean drinking water and sanitation. Similarly, infant mortality rate is an indicator of progress in a range of areas. These indicators are multi-dimensional and measure the all round progress the nation makes. A person needs not only adequate nutrition to survive, but also access to healthcare, education, sanitation, clean drinking water, housing, power, roads, etc., to live with a modicum of dignity. In my view, the debate over Poverty Line simply diverts our attention from the pressing need of the all-round development that the country needs to measure. I am not an economist, but knowing a little mathematics, my suggestion would be to divide on the basis of parameters like nutrition and HDI, the whole population periodically (say, every ten years) in four quarters or five quintiles, and consider the people falling in the last quintile as requiring the nation’s focus on improving their condition. The next time when such a survey is carried out, some would have moved out of the last quintile and some may have fallen from other quintiles into this quintile. So, this would offer a dynamic ‘poverty line’. It will also be an inclusive programme, targeting every body who is in the last quintile. The focus would be on helping people attain a better quality of life. The development of the country would be indicated by HDI, Infrastructure development and other such indices.
In the debate on Poverty Line the point is often made that the we need Poverty Line as a measure of the progress made by the country over time and across regions. But the Poverty Line as defined at present does not seem to be a good measure, because it is one-dimensional in that it measures only the nutritional needs of a person or a family to survive. Much better measures are the Human Development Indices (HDI), because they measure progress on many fronts. Take, for example, the rate of maternal mortality during childbirth. It measures progress, or lack of it, not only in the area of nutrition, but in many other areas such as access to healthcare, education, clean drinking water and sanitation. Similarly, infant mortality rate is an indicator of progress in a range of areas. These indicators are multi-dimensional and measure the all round progress the nation makes. A person needs not only adequate nutrition to survive, but also access to healthcare, education, sanitation, clean drinking water, housing, power, roads, etc., to live with a modicum of dignity. In my view, the debate over Poverty Line simply diverts our attention from the pressing need of the all-round development that the country needs to measure. I am not an economist, but knowing a little mathematics, my suggestion would be to divide on the basis of parameters like nutrition and HDI, the whole population periodically (say, every ten years) in four quarters or five quintiles, and consider the people falling in the last quintile as requiring the nation’s focus on improving their condition. The next time when such a survey is carried out, some would have moved out of the last quintile and some may have fallen from other quintiles into this quintile. So, this would offer a dynamic ‘poverty line’. It will also be an inclusive programme, targeting every body who is in the last quintile. The focus would be on helping people attain a better quality of life. The development of the country would be indicated by HDI, Infrastructure development and other such indices.
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