The World Bank: Extreme poverty rate declines in India from 27.1% to 5.3%
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: The latest World Bank data revealed that India has made significant strides in the last decade in reducing its extreme poverty rate, from 27.1 percent in 2011-12 to 5.3 percent in 2022-23.
About 75.24 million people were living in extreme poverty in India during 2022-23, a massive drop from 344.47 million in 2011-12, the media reported on Saturday.
This means 269 million people were lifted out of extreme poverty over approximately 11 years.
Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh, which collectively accounted for 65 percent of India’s extreme poor in 2011-12, contributed to two-thirds of the overall decline in extreme poverty by 2022-23.
“In absolute terms, people living in extreme poverty fell from 344.47 million to just 75.24 million,” the latest data showed.
The World Bank’s assessment, based on the USD 3.00 per day international poverty line (using 2021 prices), shows a broad-based reduction across both rural and urban areas.
At USD 2.15 daily consumption – the earlier poverty line based on 2017 prices – the share of Indians living in extreme poverty is 2.3 percent, which is significantly lower than 16.2 percent in 2011-12, according to the World Bank’s estimates.
The number of people living below the USD 2.15-per-day poverty line is recorded at 33.66 million in 2022, down from 205.93 million in 2011.
The data revealed that this sharp decline was uniformly observed, with rural extreme poverty falling from 18.4 percent to 2.8 percent and urban extreme poverty reducing from 10.7 percent to 1.1 percent in the 11 years ending 2023.
Moreover, India has also made remarkable progress in reducing multidimensional poverty.
The Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) dropped from 53.8 percent in 2005-06 to 16.4 percent by 2019-21 and further declined to 15.5 percent in 2022-23, according to the data.
As the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre completes 11 years in office this month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has highlighted the pathbreaking steps taken by the Centre for the uplift of people from poverty and its focus on empowerment, infrastructure and inclusion, the reports said.
Initiative like PM Awas Yojana, PM Ujjwala Yojana, Jan Dhan Yojana and Ayushman Bharat have enhanced access to housing, clean cooking fuel, banking and healthcare.
Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT), digital inclusion and a robust rural infrastructure have ensured transparency and faster delivery of benefits till the last mile, helping over 25 crore people defeat poverty.
