Who among the following formulated the concept of poverty as a measurable development indicator in the Indian subcontinent ?

Dadabhai Naoroji was the first to formulate the concept of poverty as a measurable development indicator in the Indian subcontinent. In his seminal work, 'Poverty and the Un-British Rule in India', he provided the first systematic estimates of poverty by computing a 'subsistence-based poverty line'. He calculated this line ranging from ₹16 to ₹35 per capita per year based on 1867-68 prices, using the cost of a basic diet to define the minimum requirements for survival. While other early nationalist thinkers like Romesh Chandra Dutt and M. Ranade analyzed the causes of Indian poverty and the 'drain of wealth', Naoroji is specifically credited with the first empirical measurement of poverty. His methodology laid the groundwork for future developmental indicators by linking economic extraction to the physical deprivation of the population.

Sources

1. [1] Indian Economy, Nitin Singhania .(ed 2nd 2021-22) > Chapter 3: Poverty, Inequality and Unemployment > Pre-Independence Estimates > p. 37