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. 2011 Oct 27;6(10):e26857. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0026857

Table 1. Dimensional indicators of poverty and the method of deriving poor in India.

Dimension Indicators for Rural Indicators for Urban Defining Poor
Education No adult literate member in the household No adult literate member in household Household do not have an adult literate member or any of the child age 7–14 in the household never attended or discontinued school
Any child in the school going age (7–14) never attended school Any child in the school going age (7–14) never attended school
Any child in the school going age (7–14) discontinued schooling Any child in the school going age (7–14) discontinued schooling
Health Any child below 5 years of age is severely underweight Any child below 5 years of age is severely underweight Either any child in the household is severely underweight or any woman is severely/moderately anemic
Any woman age 15–49 years is severely or moderately anaemic Any woman age 15–49 years is severely or moderately anaemic
Wealth Housing Condition: Housing Condition: Derived from the composite wealth index using the PCA.
Floor type, wall type, roof type, window type Floor type, wall type, roof type, window type, The cut off point of poor in is 26% in urban areas and 28% in rural areas. This cut-off point is equivalent to the poverty estimates of the Planning Commission, Govt. of India, 2004–05
Persons per room Persons per room, own house
Access to improved water Access to improved water
Type of cooking fuel Type of toilet facility
Electricity Type of cooking fuel
Separate kitchen Separate kitchen
Consumer Durables: Consumer Durables:
Motorcycle, car, landline telephone, mobile, television, pressure cooker, refrigerator, computer, sewing machine, watch, bicycle, radio Motorcycle, car, landline telephone, mobile, television, pressure cooker, refrigerator, computer sewing machine, watch
Size of Landholding:
No land, marginal, small, medium/large holdings
Agricultural accessories:
Thresher, Tractor, Water Pump