Economic Reforms and Poverty Alleviation

The National Sample Survey has been among the most robust and well respected national household surveys in the world for almost half a century. It is therefore natural that most observers accept the estimates thrown up by the NSS. However, since mid-1980s there is another large-scale survey, the Market Information Survey of Households (MISH) of the NCAER, which can provide consistent information on income trends in the country. Which of these two surveys is to be believed about the trends in poverty redressal during the reform era: MISH which suggests a marked decline or the NSS which points to stagnation in poverty ratios? To answer this question is the primary purpose of this paper.