The Rangarajan Committee methodology for determining the poverty line incorporated which of the following ? 1. A food component 2. A normative level of expenditure for essential non-food items 3. A behaviourally determined expenditure for other non-food items Select the answer using the code given below :

The correct answer is C, 1, 2 and 3. The Rangarajan Committee built its poverty line basket from all three parts named in the question.

The expert group headed by C. Rangarajan was set up in 2012 and reported in 2014, to review the Tendulkar method. Its basket had a food component, based on the average needs of calories, protein and fat; a normative level of spending on essential non-food items such as education, clothing, conveyance and house rent; and a behaviourally determined spending on other non-food items, taken from what households near the line actually spend. On this method the poverty line for 2011-12 came to about Rs 32 a day per person in rural areas and Rs 47 in urban areas, and the poverty ratio to 29.5 per cent.

Option A is wrong because it leaves out the behavioural non-food spending. Option B is wrong because it drops the food component, the base of every Indian poverty line. Option D is wrong because it omits the normative essential non-food items.

Exam tip: Tendulkar (2009) gave 21.9 per cent poverty for 2011-12; Rangarajan (2014) gave 29.5 per cent with Rs 32 rural and Rs 47 urban a day.