News Politics National Poverty came down during UPA rule, says Congress

Poverty came down during UPA rule, says Congress

New Delhi, July 24: 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

poverty came down during upa rule says congress poverty came down during upa rule says congress
New Delhi, July 24: 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.