Figures of people living below the poverty line in India were being fudged by international agencies like the World Bank to paint a grim picture of the Indian economy, Planning Commission Member N K Singh said on Monday.
"International bodies like the World Bank inflate poverty figures to maintain their own relevance. If the World Bank starts giving real figures, it will lose its raison d'etre," he said.
The actual level of poverty was much lower than what was being projected by the World Bank, he said addressing a session on the 'New Global Trade Paradigm,' organised by the UN Conference on Trade and Development and the London School of Economics.
Emphasising the need to accelerate the gross domestic product growth rate, he said: "I agree with the Congress when it says the projected 8 per cent growth rate is very modest. The Congress's demand that it (the GDP growth) should be 9 per cent is justified."
He said India should not worry over the banning of outsourcing of services by the United States as outcry to ban such moves would die down once elections are over there.
Speaking on the occasion, Meghnad Desai of the LSE said new jobs were created only after old jobs got destroyed.