Poverty in India
According to a new World Bank report, India has taken out 17.1 million people from extreme poverty while performing brilliantly between 2011-12 and 2022-23. The report states that excessive poverty during this period, which is the number of people living on income less than $ 2.15 per day, has come down from 16.2% to just 2.3%. In rural areas, there was a faster decline in excessive poverty, which fell from 18.4% to 2.8%. Whereas in urban areas it declined from 10.7% to 1.1%. As a result, the difference between rural and urban poverty declined from 7.7% to only 1.7%, which shows a decline of 16% annually.
India entered the low-middle income group
The World Bank also mentioned that India has been successful in entering the low-medium income group. The poverty line for this category is fixed at $ 3.65 per day and according to this standard, India’s poverty rate has come down from 61.8% to 28.1%, causing 37.8 million people to come out of poverty. Rural poverty decreased from 69% to 32.5% and urban poverty declined from 43.5% to 17.2%, decreasing from 25% to 15% from 25% to 15%, which is 7% decreased annually.
Poverty in the most populous states
The report also stated that in 2021-22, there were 65% of people living in excessive poverty in India’s five most populous states-Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh, and these states contributed two-thirds to the reduction in poverty by 2022-23. However, till 2022-23, these states also had 54% of the highly poor people of India and 51% of the multi-faceted poor people by 2019-21. Non-monetary poverty, which is measured by the multi-faceted poverty index (MPI), has also declined significantly, which has come down from 53.8% of 2005-06 to 16.4% by 2019-21.
Employment rate increased among women
The report also highlighted the employment data, stating that the employment growth from 2021-22 has lagged behind the working age population, although the employment rate among women is increasing. Urban unemployment has come down to 6.6% in the first quarter of FY 2024-25, the lowest since 2017-18. As challenges, unemployment between young unemployment and 29% between higher education graduates. Only 23% of non-agricultural paid jobs are in the organized sector and most agricultural employment remain unorganized. Self -employment between rural workers and women is increasing, but despite 31% of women’s employment rates remain gender inequality, as more male paid jobs than women.
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