Poverty came down during UPA rule, says Congress

The Congress Wednesday claimed that poverty in India came down during the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) rule owing to its pro-poor policies.

"The rate of poverty reduction during the seven years of UPA rule till 2011-12 was 2.18 percent against 0.74 percent during 1993-94 to 2003-04. This happened due to pro-poor policies of the government," Congress spokesperson Raj Babbar told reporters quoting data from a Planning Commission report.

According to the Congress spokesperson, the percentage of poor in 2011-12 has been estimated at 21.9 percent, down from 37.2 percent in 2003-04.

In number terms, he said, the number of poor came down from 40 crore in the period before 2003-04 to 26 crore in 2011-12.

During the UPA rule, per capita consumption and income also went up, indicating people had slightly more money to spend than before, he said.

Replying to a query, Babbar said the food security ordinance was not for poverty reduction but aimed at providing nutritious food to the beneficiaries constituting 67 percent of the 1.2 billion population.