Poverty in India : Report
A new research paper by Arvind Panagariya, Chairman of the 16th Finance Commission, finds that India has “virtually eliminated” extreme poverty between 2011–12 and 2023–24.
Key Highlights of the Study on Poverty:
- Extreme Poverty Nearly Eliminated: Poverty fell from 21.9% to 2.3% between 2011–12 and 2023–24, indicating near-elimination of extreme poverty driven by rising consumption and better access to welfare, nutrition, and basic services.
- Poverty Declined Across all Social Groups: SCs, STs, OBCs and FCs all saw major reductions, with ST poverty dropping to 8.7%, though remaining higher than other groups.
- Religious poverty gaps have sharply narrowed, with Muslims now recording slightly lower rural poverty than Hindus, reversing the common perception of higher Muslim poverty.
- Faster Reduction in Rural Areas: Rural poverty declined by 22.5 percentage points, outpacing urban reduction of 12.6 points due to stronger welfare and consumption growth.
- Near-Zero Poverty: Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Goa, Delhi, Chandigarh, and Daman & Diu recorded poverty levels close to zero.
