Meaning:-
Poverty may be defined as "inability to secure minimum human needs concerning food, clothing,housing,education and health." It may be also defined as " a situation in which an individual fails to earn income, sufficient to buy him basic means of subsidence."
In general economic sense there are two types of poverty ABSOLUTE poverty and RELATIVE poverty.
1) ABSOLUTE POVERTY:- "A person who is unable to consume (from his/her income) 2100 calories per day in urban areas and 2400 calories per day in rural areas (from his/her income) is considered to be absolutely poor.
2) RELATIVE POVERTY:- The concept of relative poverty is based on comparison of lower income group with higher income group. It is also based on the comparison of the standared of living of the people of different groups or region. It is compiled in terms of per capita income and per capita consumption expenditure.
Poverty line is an imaginary line which divides the poor from the not-so-poor.