NEGOTIATING POVERTY LINE-STUDY ON DENSITY EFFECT AROUND THE POVERTY LINE FOR INDIAN STATES

Abstract

Poverty is an interlacement of income distribution below a threshold value and inequality within that boundary. To unthread the fabric of poverty and understand the dimensions of impoverishment below and around the poverty line, a deeper examination of different facets of deprived and starving households is required. This paper attempts to provide an additional tool in monitoring poverty reduction by computing density ratio and decile density trends by applying Kernel density function for the consumer expenditure distribution from the National Sample Survey Organization’s 55th ( 2000 ), 61st ( 2005 ), 66th ( 2009 ) and 68th ( 2012 ) quinquennial rounds. The progressive Indian state Kerala has exhibited a higher density ratio with the poverty tail flattening when compared with the backward State Bihar. The ways and means to succeed in reaching the end of the sea of hardship in Bihar are explored keeping in view some of the most impressive achievements of Kerala, a developed Indian state.