Uttar Pradesh, Bihar , Maharashtra among the states with large no. of people living below poverty line
	18:40 IST

LOK SABHA   Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Maharashtra figure among the list of states with large number of people living below poverty line. The latest estimates released by the Planning Commission for the year 2004-05 reveals that Uttar Pradesh has the largest BPL population with 590.03 lakh people living below the poverty line. While Bihar  with 369.15 lakh  and Maharashtra with 317.38 lakh BPL population follow it. These figures are based on  URP Consumption. In sharp contrast the Union territories of Lakshadweep, Daman & Diu, Chandigarh, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Andaman & Nicobar Islands and states like Mizoram and Goa are on their way to become the places without any BPL population..           The estimation of poverty in the country is done after a period of five years approximately and the latest estimates are available for the year 2004-05. As per available estimates the percentage of people living below poverty line has come down from 37 percent in 1993-94 to 27.5 percent in 2004-05. Reduction in poverty is one of the monitorable targets adopted in the 11th Five year plan. The 11 th Five year plan targets to reduce the head count Ratio Of Consumption Poverty by 10 percentage points during the five year period of the plan. This was informed by the Union Minister Of  State for Rural Development, Shri Pradeep Jain  in reply to a question in Lok Sabha today. ********** Annexure-I Number of persons living Below Poverty Line by States/UTs - 2004-05 (Based on URP-Consumption)   Sl. No States/ UTs  No. of Persons (Lakhs) 1 Andhra Pradesh 126.10 2 Arunachal Pradesh 2.03 3 Assam 55.77 4 Bihar 369.15 5 Chhattisgarh 90.96 6 Delhi 22.93 7 Goa 2.01 8 Gujarat 90.69 9 Haryana 32.10 10 Himachal Pradesh 6.36 11 Jammu & Kashmir 5.85 12 Jharkhand 116.39 13 Karnataka 138.89 14 Kerala 49.60 15 Madhya Pradesh 249.68 16 Maharashtra 317.38 17 Manipur 3.95 18 Meghalaya 4.52 19 Mizoram 1.18 20 Nagaland 3.99 21 Orissa 178.49 22 Punjab 21.63 23 Rajasthan 134.89 24 Sikkim 1.14 25 Tamil Nadu 145.62 26 Tripura 6.38 27 Uttar Pradesh 590.03 28 Uttarakhand 35.96 29 West Bengal 208.36 30 A & N Islands 0.92 31 Chandigarh 0.74 32 Dadra & N. Haveli 0.84 33 Daman & Diu 0.21 34 Lakshadweep 0.11 35 Puducherry 2.37   All-India 3017.20 URP consumption = Uniform Recall Period consumption in which the consumer expenditure data for all the items are collected from 30-day recall period. Notes: 1. Poverty Ratio of Assam is used for Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland and Tripura. 2. Poverty Line of Maharashtra and expenditure distribution of Goa is used to estimate poverty ratio of Goa. 3. Poverty Ratio of Tamil Nadu is used for Puducherry and A & N Island. 4. Urban Poverty Ratio of Punjab used for both rural and urban poverty of Chandigarh. 5. Poverty Line of Maharashtra and expenditure distribution of Dadra & Nagar Haveli is used to estimate poverty ratio of Dadra & Nagar Haveli. 6. Poverty Ratio of Goa is used for Daman & Diu. 7. Poverty Ratio of Kerala is used for Lakshadweep.   AKT/ST/SAK