Attempts at eradicating poverty in India since independence have failed miserably. Successive governments have been aided and abetted in this onerous task by a host of policy planning and execution experts who have tweaked the definition of poverty and juggled the numbers to suit the political dispensation of the day. The Planning Commission's latest statement that the number of poor in India has declined has set off alarm bells of disbelief.
Motupalli S. Prasad,
Chennai
By saying that anyone with a daily consumption expenditure of Rs.28.35 in cities (and Rs. 22.42 in rural areas) is above the poverty line, the Planning Commission has insulted the collective intelligence of our nation.
K.S. Ramakrishnan,
Chennai
