This information could potentially add strength to their voices in the policymaking process. The paper also attempts to quantify different dimensions of the contribution of the urban poor to the urban economy. The Planning Commission in India defines the number and proportion of population living below the poverty line based on the recommendations of a Taskforce on the Projection of Minimum Needs and Effective Consumption Demands (1979). This Taskforce defines the poverty line as the cost of obtaining an all India consumption basket that meets the following caloric norms: 2,100 calories per person per day in the urban areas and 2,400 calories in the rural areas.