BHUBANESWAR: The number of people below the poverty line (BPL) has come down in Odisha by 24.7 per cent during a seven-year period from 2004-05 to 2011-12, Planning and Convergence Minister Padmanabh Behera told the Assembly on Thursday.
Replying to a question from Mohan Majhi (BJP), the Minister said according to the state government’s survey in 2004-05, the number of BPL people in the state was 221.6 lakh which came down to 138.53 lakh in 2011-12 financial year.
Behera said the per capita income in the state during the period has also increased.
While the per capita income of people in rural areas was Rs 407, it was Rs 497 in urban areas in 2004-05 fiscal.
The survey conducted in 2011-12, however, revealed that the per capital income in rural and urban areas were Rs 695 and Rs 861 respectively, he said.
Behera said the state government has implemented several poverty alleviation schemes.