The 56th round of the National Sample Survey Organisations' household consumption expenditure survey indicates a drop in poverty levels in the country.

The percentage of population below the poverty line has declined from 26.2 per cent in 1999-2000 to almost 24.4 per cent in 2000-01, as per the survey.

While not strictly comparable, the two surveys indicate about 2 crore (20 million) people have moved above the poverty line between the two years.

The difference in all-India poverty levels between the 55th round (1999-2000) and 56th round (2000-01) of the survey is about 1.8 per cent.

While poverty levels in rural areas have fallen, those in urban areas have risen marginally.

A rough calculation shows that rural poverty levels have fallen from 27.09 per cent in the 55th round of survey to 24.36 per cent in the 56th round.

On the other hand, poverty levels in urban areas have risen from 23.62 per cent to 24.5 per cent during the same period.

The fall in rural poverty may be attributed to the fall in prices in rural areas during 2000-01.

The Consumer Price Index for Agricultural Labourers, which is used as the price deflator for rural areas, decreased from 271 in 1999-2000 to 267 in 2000-01.

Fall in prices means the 2 per cent increase in monthly per capita expenditure reported between the two surveys translates into a 3.4 per cent increase in real monthly per capita expenditure.

However, the Consumer Price Index for Urban Non-Manual Employees, which is used as a deflator for the urban population, increased from 279 in 1999-2000 to 294 in 2000-01, indicating while the monthly per capita expenditure figure between the two rounds rose 7 per cent from 855 to 914, the increase in real monthly per capita expenditure was much lower at 1.4 per cent.

The two sets of figures are not strictly comparable because the 55th round was a large sample round, while the 56th round was a thin sample round, which covered only selected households across the country.

The 2000-01 survey covers only 0.02 per cent of rural households and 0.07 per cent of urban households. However, a rough trend is discernible from the figures.

Officially, poverty estimates are made using the quinquennial large sample surveys on consumption expenditure. The last official estimates were made using the results of the 1993-94 and 1999-2000 rounds.

The thin sample surveys conducted during the nineties show a sharp rise in poverty levels mainly due to certain sampling errors in the surveys, experts say.

The 55th round showed poverty levels had fallen to 26 per cent in 1999-2000 from 36 per cent in 1993-94.