Poverty removal not just slogan: PM Modi on World Bank data

PM Narendra Modi cites World Bank data showing India's extreme poverty rate fell 90% to 2.6% between 2011 and 2023, with nearly 50 crore people lifted out of extreme poverty.

NEW DELHI: India has recorded one of the fastest poverty declines in the world, with the extreme poverty rate in the country "collapsing" by 90% between 2011 and 2023 to a low of 2.6%, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday, while asserting that elimination of poverty is a commitment for his govt."A historic fall in poverty. A generational rise in opportunity... Gareebi hatao was never a slogan for us. It is our commitment. From more than 1 in 4 Indians to roughly 1 in 38 (in extreme poverty)," the PM posted on Instagram Saturday, citing the World Bank's latest numbers. He highlighted that nearly 50 crore people had moved out of poverty during these 12 years.Besides, Modi added, employment had grown by 13.4 crore between 2017 and 2023, which was nearly twice the increase in India's working age population.

"Inequality has fallen sharply. India's Gini index has dropped by over 20% from 29 in 2011 to 23 in 2023," the Prime Minister said in the Instagram post. The Gini index reflects how equitable is the distribution of income or wealth across a population, with a lower number indicating greater equality.

World Bank's latest Poverty and Equity brief, released last week, said that poverty rate in India, defined at $4.2 a day, will decline to 12.1% in 2028 from 57.7% in 2011, having fallen to 16.1% in 2023.

Meanwhile, extreme poverty, defined as spending $3 a day, declined from 27.1% in 2011 to 2.6% in 2023."This progress was mainly driven by strong consumption growth; rising employment, especially among women; and expanded social transfers, including food subsidies. As poverty declined, it became increasingly concentrated among households with lower education, fewer assets, limited access to stable employment and higher dependency ratios. Wage disparities, however, remain pronounced, as median earnings among the top 10% of workers were about 13 times those of the bottom 10% in 2023," the World Bank had said.