Methodology to measure poverty should be consistent for an economy: PMEAC member

A government should work for the poorest strata of the population and the methodology to measure poverty should be consistent for an economy over a period of time, said Surjit S Bhalla, member of Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council, here today.

In his address on Employment and Poverty Reduction in India organised by Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), Bhalla dealt with several economic issues of contemporary relevance.

The methodology to measure poverty should be consistent for an economy over a period of time, as this would enable more accurate assessments of the development and growth outcomes for the Indian economy in the long term, he said.

He outlined the development of India's poverty line and shared his belief that a government should work for the poorest quarter of the population, as against the present system of calculation of the national poverty line and debates on what percentage of the population fell below this line, according to an official statement.

The concept of higher economic growth rate being associated with rising inequality, the phenomenon of jobless growth and the skewed growth distribution in economies were some other areas covered in his lecture where he sought to dispel some popular misconceptions in the public mind, the statement said.