Study: BPL population up in Delhi, Maha and Haryana

NEW DELHI: A National Sample Survey Organisation's study suggests that while economic growth is trickling down very slowly, poverty has declined the sharpest in the poorer states. Leading them were Assam and the north-eastern states, where people below the poverty line decreased by nearly 4% annually, followed by Jharkhand (2.51% a year during the five-year period), Chhattisgarh (2.15% a year) and Bihar (1.69%). Apart from the slow reduction of poverty, government also seems worried about a lower decrease in poverty ratios in urban areas, compared to rural areas. BPL population in rural areas decreased 4.68% between 1999-2000 and 2004-05, which was over twice the pace of the decrease in urban centres, estimated at 2.12%. The trend of slower poverty reduction in urban areas, say economists, could be due to migration of the poor from rural areas.

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