What was the base of poverty line concept of Dada Bhai Naoroji ?

Question

Accepted Answer

The correct option is 3:

Dada Bhai Naoroji was one of the first individuals to estimate poverty in India during the colonial period in his seminal work, *Poverty and Un-British Rule in India*. He devised a subsistence poverty line based on the 'Jail Cost of Living'. His method calculated the cost of a basic diet and non-food items provided to prisoners in different jails, as this data was readily available from British administration records. By calculating the cost of food required for subsistence, adjusting for the fact that a prisoner's diet was generally adequate for sustenance, Naoroji developed a cost-based minimum necessary income for a person living outside of jail. This cost served as the foundation of his poverty line estimate.

The incorrect option is 1:

Per Capita Income and Inflation were not the primary base for his poverty line calculation, although income figures were the result of his estimation. His method was based on cost, not solely on existing income averages or inflation rates, which became central to later poverty estimation methods.

The incorrect option is 2:

While poverty estimates later distinguished between rural and urban costs, Dada Bhai Naoroji's original concept was not specifically based on a 'Village cost of living'. It was based on the administrative data available from prisons, which he adapted to represent a minimum subsistence level for the entire population.

The incorrect option is 4:

Calorie Consumption became the crucial benchmark for poverty line estimation much later, particularly starting with the 1970s methodologies in India. Naoroji's "Jail cost of living" estimate preceded the explicit use of calorie intake as a quantitative measure for determining minimum nutritional requirement.