Last Updated:
India reduced its poverty rate to 15.1 per cent in 2023, a 6.7 per cent decline. Economist Karan Bhasin calls it a significant achievement, with Modi government lifting over 9 crore people from poverty.
PM Narendra Modi (Photo: YouTube/Narendra Modi)
Away from the headlines of no Income Tax till Rs 12 lakh of income, a muted but tectonic shift has taken place in the Indian socio-economic scene that may steal the thunder of the Opposition’s allegations of alleged crony capitalism against the Narendra Modi government. The latest data shows that India reduced its overall poverty (defined as those living below $3.2 adjusted for PPP) to 15.1 per cent in 2023. In layman’s language, a 6.7 per cent sharp decline was observed among those below the poverty line.
Household Consumption Expenditure Surveys (HCES) for 2022-23 and 2023-24 gave a sense of this sharp decline. US-based economist Karan Bhasin was intrinsically involved in the data release, and said this is no small achievement for India. “It shows an all-round inclusive development that results in such major changes. In that one year alone, calculation shows more than 9 crore were uplifted from poverty. This is no mean feat,” Bhasin told News18.
These two surveys confirm three specific trends. Firstly, India has in a way eliminated extreme poverty, something earlier reported by News18. Those below this extreme poverty line now account for just 0.9 per cent of the population. Secondly, India has managed to reduce the overall poverty – whereby – it is defined as those living below $3.2 adjusted for PPP — to 15.1 per cent. This is seen as a very high annual decline. Finally, the 2023-24 survey reflects a continuing drop in consumption inequality, as measured by the Gini Index. In other words, the consumption gap between rural and urban India is narrowing.
Where does it leave the opposition of India today? “The opposition that spoke about ‘garibi hatao’ (remove poverty) for 70 years kept ‘gareeb as gareeb’ (poor as poor) while PM Modi lifted 25 crore people out of poverty. PM Modi works towards ‘antodaya’, Congress works for George Soros,” said BJP National Spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari.
The Congress-led opposition has been relentless in its charge against the BJP-led NDA over what it calls ‘crony capitalism’. The Winter Session of Parliament was rocked by Opposition disruptions over the Adani issue. Ahead of the budget session, in his customary speech, Prime Minister Modi took a veiled dig at Hindenburg Group — now shut — whose reports ahead of Parliament sessions bolstered the opposition. “This is probably the first session since 2014 when there was no ‘videshi chingari’ (foreign interference) and no attempts to stoke fire from abroad have been made,” Modi said.
So, is India gradually transitioning from a poor nation to a lower-middle-class nation? Bhasin said many aspects of the welfare state need to be rethought. There is a definite need to revisit India’s poverty lines, he said while advocating for giving free ration to a more targeted population but a better healthy diet.
