After being severely criticized from various quarters including majority of the political quarters for underestimating poverty in India in the new estimates released by the government, a Planning Commission member Thursday said the number of poor in the country should be decided politically.

Talking to the media during a programme of the Confederation of Indian Industry at the Grand Hotel here, Planning Commission member Arun Maira said, "The definition of who is poor is a political process and who deserves to get assistance from the government is ultimately a political decision... a political process."

"I believe that the number of poor in the country should be decided politically. So to determine what assistance should be given to the poor people is a socio-political matter... this is what democracy is all about," Maira said.

He said the commission's job was to help government take measures to reduce the number of poor people.

"The Planning Commission's job right now, as the whole system is asking for, is to help reduce the number of poor people. And that is what the Planning Commission should do," he stated.

According to the data released by the Planning Commission, the number of people under the poverty line -- whose daily consumption is below 28.65 rupees (0.56 U.S. dollar) in urban areas and 22.43 rupees (0.45 U.S. dollar) for rural areas -- declined to 29.8 percent in 2009-10.

Terming the report as an insult to the poor, opposition parties, led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), said Wednesday the central government was making a joke of the issue.

The BJP also alleged that "World Bank people" were sitting in the Planning Commission who were unaware of the realities of rural India.

Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav also attacked the government, demanding removal of Planning Commission Deputy Chairperson Montek Singh Ahluwalia for releasing "flawed" figures which "underestimate" poverty in the country.

On the relevance of Planning Commission in the country, Maira, however, said, "Times are so confusing that even the private sector would like somebody to give them a radar... we need planning in the country. Definitely today we need a planning process more than we ever needed before. Because the changes are so dynamic."

"We are reforming ourselves to become more effective and more useful for the country," he said.