Regional Estimates of Household Poverty, Consumption Expenditure and Inequality in India.

The study estimates household poverty by using state specific poverty line for rural and urban sectors separately, as defined by Tendulkar Methodology and estimates logistic regression for identifying the determining factors of household poverty. Taking advantage of Household Consumption Expenditure Data from the 61^st (2004-2005) and 68^th (2011-2012) round of the National Sample Survey, the study estimates regional level household poverty and consumption expenditure across socio-religious groups in India. In addition, the study measures household consumption expenditure and inequality by using Gini coefficient and Lorenz curves at regional level and among different socio-religious groups in India. We find that the poverty level has declined by 15.52 per cent between 2004-2005 and 2011-2012. Meanwhile across social groups, the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes households are comparatively poorer than Other Backward Classes and Others category households. Similarly, in terms of household consumption expenditure inequality, there is no significant difference in the value of Gini ratio and Lorenz curve of Monthly Per capita Consumption Expenditure between the rounds but they diverge towards the end. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]