Letters: Poverty in real time

This refers to Samuel Paul and Kala S Sridhar's article "The demand side of inclusive growth" (March 5). Owing to the data limitation, the writers' analyses of poverty estimates in various states were restricted till 2004-05, for which the National Sample Survey's data are available. Montek Singh Ahluwalia had recently said analyses of poverty and economic growth need to consider this data limitation. In 2013, is the trend in poverty reduction, as pointed out by the writers, continues in Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, or has the situation changed? The period after 2004-05 is crucial since during the past six years, while economic growth has slowed down at the national level, some states have seen impressive growth rates.

Chandrashekhar G Ranade Virginia

From Samuel Paul and Kala S Sridhar:
With reference to R K Arya's letter "Employment and growth" (March 7), the study about Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh is about historical trends in literacy rate, education, reservation in economic opportunities and government jobs, and the role that social movements played in making the growth process inclusive and bottom-up in Tamil Nadu. We are not commenting on the current state of affairs, or the provision of freebies in the state.

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