India, May 1 -- Sangu's life traces India's geography of poverty-a stubborn constant in one of the world's fastest growing economies. Dhamtari (once part of Raipur district) has been identified among the country's poorest regions since 1951, when the first five-year plan was rolled out. Sangu has officially been classified as poor since then-part of the nascent republic's first cohort.

Some 25 years ago, he was reclassified as "Antyodaya"-or extremely poor, whose life is deemed at serious risk from hunger. India launched the Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) in December 2000, after a national survey found that 5 per cent of the population went to bed without two square meals a day.

The scheme targeted some 10 million people from below-poverty...