Poverty in the country has declined by 7.3 per cent . According to Planning Commission estimates released yesterday, the decline of poverty in the rural areas has been at a faster pace than in urban areas during the period.

The sharp decline in poverty of over 10 percentage points was witnessed in Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Uttarakhand. However, poverty has increased in the North-eastern states of Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram and Nagaland.