Latest news with #PovertyandEquityBrief
The Print
28-04-2025
- Business
- The Print
Over 170 million lifted above poverty line in India, Modi government and Congress claim credit
According to a World Bank report, extreme poverty (defined as living on less than USD 2.15 per day) decreased from 16.2 per cent in 2011-12 to 2.3 per cent in 2022-23, lifting 171 million people in India above this threshold. New Delhi [India], April 27 (ANI): The World Bank's recent report shows a significant drop in extreme poverty in India, with the government and opposition Congress both claiming credit for the improvement, as over 170 million people moved above the poverty line between 2011-12 and 2022-23. The government views this as an endorsement of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's claims regarding poverty reduction. Citing the World Bank report, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting released a statement saying that the Poverty and Equity Brief from the multilateral bank was an acknowledgement of India's 'decisive fight' against poverty. 'This achievement is a testament to the Government of India's commitment to inclusive development, focusing on both rural and urban areas. Through targeted welfare schemes, economic reforms, and increased access to essential services, India has made substantial strides in reducing poverty levels,' the government said in the statement on Saturday evening. On Sunday, Senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha member Jairam Ramesh attributed this success to the economic reforms of 1991 and several social welfare interventions developed by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's government during 2004-14. 'The most important intervention is the MGNREGA, 2005, which has effectively set a floor on the annual income for crores of families, acting as a safety net to keep families out of poverty, and the National Food Security Act, 2013, that provides the foundation for the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY),' Jairam Ramesh, General Secretary (Communications) of Congress, said in the statement. 'As per calculations based on the international poverty line (USD 2.15/day), poverty has continued its downward trend in recent years to reach extremely low levels. This reflects the success of India's growth story, which began with liberalisation in June 1991 and which has since taken a momentum of its own – and that of several social welfare interventions developed by Dr Manmohan Singh's Government during 2004-14,' the Congress veteran added. The World Bank's Poverty and Equity Brief report, released earlier this week, revealed that rural extreme poverty dropped from 18.4 per cent to 2.8 per cent, and urban extreme poverty fell from 10.7 per cent to 1.1 per cent, narrowing the rural-urban gap from 7.7 to 1.7 percentage points–a 16 per cent annual decline. Using the USD 3.65 per day lower-middle-income category poverty line, poverty dropped from 61.8 per cent to 28.1 per cent, lifting 378 million people out of poverty. Rural poverty fell from 69 per cent to 32.5 per cent, and urban poverty dropped from 43.5 per cent to 17.2 per cent, reducing the rural-urban gap from 25 to 15 percentage points with a 7 per cent annual decline. The five most populous states–Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar, West Bengal, and Madhya Pradesh–accounted for 65 per cent of the country's extreme poor in 2011-12 and contributed to two-thirds of the overall decline in extreme poverty by 2022-23. (ANI) This report is auto-generated from ANI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.
Time of India
27-04-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Sharpening inequality now firmly embedded in nature of country's economic growth: Congress
Attacking the Centre citing a World Bank report , the Congress on Sunday claimed that sharpening inequality is now firmly embedded in the nature of the country's economic growth, and asserted there is a compelling need for tax reforms in GST, ending "brazen corporate favouritism" and providing income support for families. Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said the World Bank has released its Poverty and Equity Brief for India this month, and the report raises several concerns even as the Modi government spins it to its benefit. #Pahalgam Terrorist Attack India stares at a 'water bomb' threat as it freezes Indus Treaty India readies short, mid & long-term Indus River plans Shehbaz Sharif calls India's stand "worn-out narrative" In its report, the World Bank has said, "Over the past decade, India has significantly reduced poverty. Extreme poverty (living on less than USD 2.15 per day) fell from 16.2 per cent in 2011-12 to 2.3 per cent in 2022-23, lifting 171 million people above this line." In his statement on the report, Ramesh noted that as per calculations based on the international poverty line (USD 2.15/ day), poverty has continued its downward trend in recent years to reach extremely low levels. Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Google Brain Co-Founder Breaks His Silence: Read These 5 Books And Turn Your Life Around Blinkist: Andrew Ng's Reading List Undo "This reflects the success of India's growth story - which began with liberalisation in June 1991 and which has since taken a momentum of its own - and that of several social welfare interventions developed by Dr Manmohan Singh's government during 2004-14," he said. Ramesh claimed the most important intervention is the MGNREGA , 2005 which has effectively set a floor on the annual income for crores of families, acting as a safety net to keep families out of poverty and the National Food Security Act, 2013 that provides the foundation for the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKY). Live Events He, however, pointed out that the World Bank has also warned that more updated data --adoption of purchasing power parity conversion factor from 2021 as compared to that of 2017 -- would result in a higher rate of extreme poverty. "Changes in the questionnaire design, survey implementation, and sampling in the Household Consumption Expenditure Survey 2022-23 present challenges from making comparisons over time', he said, citing the report. "It is worth recalling that these changes were made after the Government rejected the previous iteration of the survey (conducted in 2017-18) after it showed falling consumption in rural areas," he said. As a lower middle-income country, the appropriate rate to measure poverty in India is that of YSD 3.65/day, Ramesh said, adding that by this measure, the poverty rate for India in 2022 is significantly higher at 28.1%. "Wage disparity in India remains high, with the median earnings of the top 10% being 13 times higher than the bottom 10% in 2023-24. Moreover sampling and data limitations suggest that consumption inequality [as measured by Government data] may be underestimated," he alleged. Ramesh argued that the report, therefore, has several takeaways for Indian policymakers such as the significant variance between differing poverty lines shows that large sections of the population are only marginally above the international extreme poverty line. "Social welfare systems such as MGNREGA and the National Food Security Act 2013 cannot be abandoned but must be strengthened to ensure that they protect these segments from negative shocks," he asserted. Ramesh said the Congress' long-standing demand to increase MGNREGA wages, and to conduct the decadal Population Census (due in 2021) and include 10 crore additional persons in the ambit of the NFSA, finds new urgency based on these numbers. "The lack of clarity and transparency over the prevalence of poverty in India is a result of this Government's confused and opaque policymaking. Since the Rangarajan Committee Report submitted in 2014, the Union Government has not set any updated poverty line for the country. The Government must do so immediately," he said. Asserting that data quality, consistency, and integrity are of the highest priority, Ramesh said the government's recent track record on this front -- best exemplified by the suppression of the Consumption Expenditure Survey 2017-18 - is not inspiring. "In fact, blatant data doctoring and manipulation is part of the Modi government's tool-kit when economic realities are contrary to its claims and boasts," he alleged. Ramesh claimed that "sharpening inequality" is now firmly embedded in the nature of our economic growth and its trajectory fuelled by the Modi government's policies and the widening gap between the privileged few and the dispossessed many can no longer be denied. "There is a compelling need for tax reforms in GST to mitigate its regressive impacts ending tax terrorism to stimulate private corporate investment, ending brazen corporate favouritism and providing income support for families and incentives for household savings," the Congress general secretary said. The World Bank report said that rural extreme poverty dropped from 18.4 per cent to 2.8 per cent, and urban from 10.7 per cent to 1.1 per cent, narrowing the rural-urban gap from 7.7 to 1.7 percentage points, a 16 per cent annual decline. The brief said that India also transitioned into the lower-middle-income category. Using the USD 3.65 per day LMIC poverty line, poverty fell from 61.8 per cent to 28.1 per cent, lifting 378 million people out of poverty.
Time of India
26-04-2025
- Business
- Time of India
171 million lifted above poverty line in 10 yrs: World Bank
NEW DELHI: Over the past decade, India has significantly reduced poverty with extreme poverty declining from 16.2% in 2011-12 to 2.3% in 2022-23, lifting 171 million people above the poverty line, a World Bank report said on Friday. Rural extreme poverty dropped from 18.4% to 2.8% and urban from 10.7% to 1.1%, narrowing the rural-urban gap from 7.7 to 1.7 percentage points - a 16% annual decline, according to the multilateral agency's Poverty and Equity Brief. "India also transitioned into the lower-middle-income category. Using the $3.65 per day LMIC (lower middle income country) poverty line, poverty fell from 61.8% to 28.1%, lifting 378 million people out of poverty," said the report. It said rural poverty dropped from 69% to 32.5%, and urban poverty from 43.5% to 17.2%, reducing the rural-urban gap from 25 to 15 percentage points with a 7% annual decline. Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Sumatera Utara: AI guru Andrew Ng recommends: Read These 5 Books And Turn Your Life Aroun... Blinkist: Andrew Ng's Reading List Undo The five most populous states - Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar, West Bengal, and Madhya Pradesh - accounted for 65% of the country's extreme poor in 2011-12 and contributed to two-thirds of the overall decline in extreme poverty by 2022-23, according to the report. "Nevertheless, these states still accounted for 54% of India's extremely poor (2022-23) and 51% of the multidimensionally poor (2019-21). As measured by the multidimensional poverty index (MPI), non-monetary poverty declined from 53.8% in 2005-06 to 16.4% by 2019-21," it said. The World Bank's Multidimensional Poverty Measure is at 15.5% in 2022-23. India's consumption-based Gini index improved from 28.8 in 2011-12 to 25.5 in 2022-23, though inequality may be underestimated due to data limitations. In contrast, the World Inequality Database shows income inequality rising from a Gini of 52 in 2004 to 62 in 2023. It said employment growth has outpaced the working-age population since 2021-22. Employment rates, especially among women, are rising, and urban unemployment fell to 6.6% in Q1 FY24/25, the lowest since 2017-18. "Recent data indicates a shift of male workers from rural to urban areas for the first time since 2018-19, while rural female employment in agriculture has grown," said the report.
Time of India
25-04-2025
- Business
- Time of India
India lifted 170 million out of poverty in a decade: World Bank
New Delhi: India made strides in poverty reduction, lifting 170 million (17 crore) people out of poverty between 2011-12 and 2022-23, a new World Bank report said. The proportion of people living in extreme poverty, those living on less than $2.15 a day, declined to 2.3% in 2022-23 from 16.2% in 2011-12. #Pahalgam Terrorist Attack India pulled the plug on IWT when Pakistanis are fighting over water What makes this India-Pakistan standoff more dangerous than past ones The problem of Pakistan couldn't have come at a worse time for D-St On Friday, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman highlighted the feat on social media and noted that employment growth has outpaced working-age population. Rural areas recorded a higher decline in poverty than urban areas. The extreme poverty rate in rural areas fell to 2.8% in 2022-23 from 18.4% in 2011-12, while urban areas saw a reduction to 1.1% from 10.7% during the same period, according to the 'Poverty and Equity Brief' by the World Bank. Five states-Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar, West Bengal, and Madhya Pradesh-accounted for 65% of India's extreme poor in 2011-12. These states were also responsible for two-third of the poverty reduction by 2022-23 and now represent 54% of those living in extreme poverty. 5 5 Next Stay Playback speed 1x Normal Back 0.25x 0.5x 1x Normal 1.5x 2x 5 5 / Skip Ads by by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Sulawesi Selatan: AI guru Andrew Ng recommends: Read These 5 Books And Turn Your Life Aroun... Blinkist: Andrew Ng's Reading List Undo The poverty estimates are based on the Consumption Expenditure Survey 2011-12 and the Household Consumption Expenditure Survey 2022-23. While the latest survey includes improvements in questionnaire design, survey implementation, and sampling, the World Bank cautioned that these changes pose challenges for making comparisons over time. It also noted underestimation of consumption inequality due to sampling and data limitations. India's Gini Index, which measures consumption-based inequality, fell to 25.5 in 2022-23 from 28.8 in 2011-12, marking an improvement. However, the Bank warned that this may not fully reflect reality due to data limitations. Live Events In contrast, the World Inequality Database reported a rise in income inequality, with the Index increasing to 62 in 2023 from 52 in 2004. "Wage disparity remains high, with the median earnings of the top 10 %being 13 times higher than the bottom 10% in 2023-24," the Bank mentioned. On a positive note, employment has grown faster than the working-age population since 2021-22, according to the World Bank. The data shows a shift in the workforce: more male workers are moving from rural to urban areas, while female employment in rural agriculture is rising, it added.
