The poor are individuals or households who lack sufficient income, resources, or access to meet their basic needs defined through poverty lines and deprivation indices.
- Absolute Poverty: Inability to meet minimum survival requirements — food, shelter, clothing, health, education
- Relative Poverty: Being poor compared to the average living standard of a society
- Poverty Line in India (Rangarajan Committee, 2014, at 2011–12 prices):
- Rural: Rs. 972/month per person
- Urban: Rs. 1,407/month per person
- Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI): Measures poverty across health, education, and living standards (UNDP/Oxford)
Vulnerable groups most affected in India:
- Landless agricultural laborers
- Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes
- Urban slum dwellers
- Female-headed households
- Children and elderly without support
India's poverty has declined significantly from ~55% (1973) to below 15% in recent estimates.