for example in a pioneering study group of indias planning commission set a monthly per capita consumption level of rupees rs in prices as the bare minimum levelofliving threshold this excluded expenditure on health and education since it assumed that such needs would be covered directly for all and for free by the state as enjoined upon it by indias constitution the states obligation has not been fulfilled but the assumption of its fulfilment has nevertheless survived in india the official poverty line does not cover education and health needs factoring these in on the basis of the actual expenditure pattern of the median household reveals that the poverty line would need to be raised by per cent for rural areas and by per cent for urban areas the rates of rural and urban poverty would increase from the official estimates of and per cent to the revised estimates of and per cent respectively ravi and dev pp