Poverty line is the level of income to meet the minimum living conditions. Poverty line is the amount of money needed for a person to meet his basic needs. It is defined as the money value of the goods and services needed to provide basic welfare to an individual.
Poverty line in India
India is having a well-designed poverty measurement mechanism under the erstwhile Planning Commission. The Planning Commission was the nodal agency for estimation of poverty. For setting poverty line and methodology of constructing it, the Planning Commission appointed Expert Groups from time to time. for example, the Rangarajan Committee is the latest among those Expert groups. Traditionally, the planning commission estimates the number of people below poverty line in states as well as the rural and urban areas based upon the prevailing poverty estimation methodology submitted by the expert groups.