This paper provides estimates of poverty and inequality across states as also for different sub-groups of population for 2004-05 by using the old and new methods of the Planning Commission. The new method is critically evaluated with the help of some existing literature and its limitations...

Management of hunger has to look into issues of availability, accessibility and adequacy. Posing it from an ethical perspective the paper argues out in favour of right to food. But, for this to happen, the state has to come up with an appropriate and effective bill on food and nutrition...

The relatively lower reduction of poverty in Orissa, 0.2 percentage points per annum from 48.6 per cent in 1993-94 to 46.4 per cent in 2004-05, has been a matter of concern. The current exercise attempts to analyse whether part of the explanation lies in the state of affairs in agriculture. An...

Maharashtra is among the richest states in India in terms of per capita income, yet incidence of poverty in the state remains close to the national average. The states economy grew at a faster rate than the all-India average during 1980-1 to 1992-3, but it slowed down a bit during 1993-4 to...

The aim of this paper is to examine if tobacco consumption crowds-out consumption of basic needs and whether it has implications for nutrition intake and intra-household resource allocation in developing countries. In the process we also examine whether preference over other commodities for...