Aizawl, Jun 21, 2018: Altogether 56,584 families in Mizoram are still living below poverty line which is 19.63 per cent of total households of over 2.8 lakh, according to the BPL baseline survey 2016 released here on Wednesday.
According to a 2011 general census, Mizoram has a population of over 10.91 lakh which is now estimated to be around 11.2 lakh.
The survey, released by state planning and programme implementation minister Lalsawta, said Lawngtlai district in the southernmost part of the state has the highest number of BPL families - 13,162 out of total households of 20,163. It is followed by Aizawl district having 12,668 BPL families out of 37,997 households. Champhai district, bordering Myanmar, has the least number of BPL families - 2,715 out of 29,043 households.
Mamit district in the western corner of the state has the highest percentage of BPL families at 35.64 and Champhai district has the lowest percentage at 9.35, the survey said.
Aizawl has 92,779 households, the highest, followed by Lawngtlai district which has 61,593 households, it said.
Serchhip district with 13,841 households has the lowest number of households.
The survey was conducted since 2016 based on the proposal of Suresh Tendulkar Committee set up in 2005 and the parameters made by the UN .
The survey pointed out that five villages in Champhai district - Pamchung, Rabung, Tlangmawi, Chawngtlai and Riangtlei - are BPL-free villages. There are 864 villages in all the eight districts of Mizoram.