NEW DELHI—India's top policy-planning body raised its estimate of the nation's official poverty rate to 37.2% of the population from 27.5%, a key development as the government drafts legislation to give the poorest Indians a right to state-subsidized food grains.
The move by the country's Planning Commission, which wasn't announced formally but was confirmed by a senior government official, pegs the number of Indians in poverty at around 410 million—more than 100 million above the previous estimate. The change comes after critics said the earlier poverty estimate would leave too many destitute households out of the government's food-entitlement programs.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704508904575191550764145376.html?mod=WSJ_latestheadlines
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