“THE issue of poverty estimates has been the subject matter of public debate in and outside parliament. Government respects and is fully conscious of the sensitivities of the people on this issue…The government has also taken a decision to set up a technical group to revise/revisit the methodology for estimating poverty in a manner which is consistent with the current realities.” This extract is from the government’s press note in March 2012 on the appointment of C Rangarajan as the chairman of the technical group.