Nearly 80% Indians live on $2 a day: SAARC Report

New Delhi, Dec 1 (UNI) A SAARC Secretariat Report released here today brings out the staggering number of people in India who are still seeped in poverty, with 35.5 per cent of the people living on income of one dollar a day and 80.6 per cent on two dollars per day.

The report, released here today by Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia in Yojna Bhavan, categorises those below a per diem income of one dollar using the Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) as 'extremly poor' and those below two dollars a day as 'Mild Income Poverty'.

The number of those who are in 'severe poverty' is for the year 2001 and those whose income is two dollars for the year 1999-200.

The percentage of 'severe poverty,' however, has been alling -- from 53 per cent in 1981 to 40.6 per cent in 1990.

The report, however, commends India's approach towards poverty allieviation. It says the country's performance in this regard in recent decades has been impressive. The rate of poverty reduction was 3.2 per cent per annum during 1999-2000.

It noted that the government has adopted a three-pronged approach to poverty allieviation. Economic growth in sectors that provide opportunities to people to participate in the growth process is the first stand.

The second stance was provision of basic services, such as health, education, water, sanitation, shelter and connectivity.

The third part of the approach is directly targeting poverty allieviation programmes that address long term and transient poverty.

The report is titled'Poverty Reduction in South Asia through Productive Employment'.

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