The NSSO numbers can be debated as there is no uniform way of measuring poverty. And there is still a lot of aggressive state support to ensure that people have access to all basic goods and services
The consumption data of survey gives a very encouraging statistic relating to equality.
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The National Sample Survey Office’s (NSSO) presentation on patterns of household consumption expenditure has quite expectedly led to a variety of interpretations and takeaways. While the survey results are objective in terms of putting together consumption patterns in rural and urban areas over a period of time, analysts have delved deeper into the numbers. A logical hypothesis here is whether these changes in patterns can be used to construct new price indices which are more contemporary. This can be debated. However, one interesting conclusion drawn is that it does show that poverty levels have come down sharply over time.