There has always been a debate about poverty estimates in India. Various studies have estimated poverty using income, calorie consumption and other parameters. Politics has driven number inflation by states and under reporting of income is common practice. Poverty census was conducted in 1992 and 1997 but the estimates are far from satisfactory. Most recently, the Saxena committee has recommended the controversial inclusion of caste based census for poverty estimates.

The Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHDI) has come out with new method to estimate poverty based upon range of deprivations individuals suffer because of factors varying from inadequate education to ill health and poor standards of living. This may actually give a more realistic picture of poverty. The Alkire-Foster multidimensional poverty index quantifies the intensity of poverty in terms of the average number of deprivations individuals in households suffer. OPHDI estimates that India has 412 million poor in 8 states (Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal).

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