Poverty is falling at an accelerated pace in India. The proportion of the poor to the total population has fallen from 37.2% in 2004-05 to 21.9% in 2011-12. In this seven-year period, the pace of poverty reduction has been 2.8% a year, about three times the rate of poverty reduction over 1993-94 to 2004-05.These ratios have been estimated using implicit prices derived from quantity and value data collected in NSSO ’s household consumption surveys. Instead of being celebrated, such decline in poverty has been run down. Some fear that accepting the reduction in poverty at face value would give political legitimacy to the government of the day.Others feel that the consumption levels that define poverty have been pitched unrealistically low, so that the numbers of those who have escaped the drudgery of poverty seem exaggerated. So, the entire methodology of poverty estimation is now being reviewed by the Rangarajan panel . True, the levels of poverty will be higher with an upward revision of the poverty line, but the rate of decline would be similar. And this is indeed something to cheer.The average growth rate of real monthly per-capita consumption expenditure (MPCE) was 3.4% in rural areas and 3.72% in urban areas between 2004-05 and 2011-12. This tallies with independent data showing a steady rise in real wages and structural diversification of the economy indicated by the share of the workforce engaged in agriculture dipping below 50% for the first time. Also, the increase in MPCE was well distributed across all deciles, and particularly equitable in rural areas. The NSSO’s 68th round revealed that people were spending less on food, and more on superior foods within foods. Spending has risen on education and rents. This calls for reprioritisation of the government’s welfare focus to things like housing, education and healthcare.Fast economic growth, redistributive welfare measures like the employment programme and investment in education and healthcare to increase human capacity, all play a role in raising incomes and alleviating poverty.