what is below poverty line in india

The Below Poverty Line (BPL) is a benchmark used by the government of India to indicate economic disadvantage and to identify individuals and households in need of government assistance and aid. According to the methodology of the Suresh Tendulkar Committee report, the population below the poverty line in India was 354 million (29.6% of the population) in 2009–2010 and was 69 million (21.9% of the population) in 2011–2012. The poverty line in India is defined as a monthly expenditure of Rs 1,000 or less in cities and Rs 816 or less in villages, at 2011-’12 prices. The poverty line is used to determine poverty status in India. The World Banks median poverty line is $3.10 per day, and about 60% of India's nearly 1.3 billion people live on less than this amount. Additionally, 21%, or more than 250 million people, survive on less than $2 a day. Internationally, an income of less than ₹150 per day per head of purchasing power parity is defined as extreme poverty. By this estimate, about 12.4% of Indians are extremely poor.