(i) Poverty in India in mid 70’s was slightly more than 50 % which means every second Indian, was a poor.
(ii) Poverty in rural areas had always been on higher side than that in urban areas.
(iii) Significant fall in poverty took place in 1977-78 to 1983-84.
(iv) Decline in poverty was spectacular between 1993-94 and 1999-2000. i.e., 10% poverty reduction.
(v) Absolute number of poor people in India re mained around 32 crores between 1973-1974 to 1993-94.
(vi) In 1999-2000 absolute number came down to 26 crores despite 102.7 crores of population. It reduced to 23 crore in 2004-05.