India to ameliorates from poverty
On the one hand, there are good signs about the economy, on the other hand, international financial institutions are putting their stamp of approval on India's development. The series of achievements continues. That is why the world is acknowledging that India is growing fast. The World Bank has released a report appreciating the plans and policies of the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The World Bank report states that poverty in India has declined rapidly. In 2011-12, where 27.1 percent of the country's population was in extreme poverty, in 2022-23, this figure has come down to just 5.3 percent. That is, a large number of people have risen above the poverty line in the last 11 years. The number of people living in extreme poverty declined from 344.47 million to 75.24 million. The figures are based on the 2021 Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) poverty line of $3 a day. The report pointed out that in 2011-12, just five states accounted for 65 per cent of India's extreme poverty: Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh. These five states accounted for two-thirds of the total poverty decline by 2022-23.
According to the World Bank, the rate of extreme poverty in rural areas in India has declined from 18.4 percent to 2.8 percent between 2011 and 2022. In urban areas, the rate came down from 10.7 per cent to 1.1 per cent. If the poverty line is taken at $2.15 a day based on 2017 prices, the rate of extreme poverty in India is 2.3 per cent in 2022 which was 16.2 per cent in 2011-12. On this basis, the number of people living in extreme poverty declined from 20.59 crore in 2011 to 3.36 crore in 2022.
In the 11 years of the Narendra Modi government, the government has implemented schemes like Ujjwala Yojana, Jan Dhan Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, Ayushman Bharat. These schemes cover essential sectors such as housing, cooking gas, banking services and healthcare facilities. Apart from this, schemes for direct benefit transfer, expansion of digital services and infrastructure development in rural areas were run, which benefited the needy people. The scheme to provide free ration to about 80 crore people from the Corona period has yielded results. This scheme helped the poor class a lot. In a country with a large population like India, public welfare schemes are necessary so that the poor can get enough food to live. Free and subsidised food transfer schemes played an important role in poverty reduction. The gap between rural and urban poverty also narrowed sharply. Due to Jan Dhan Yojana, crores of people joined banks. These bank accounts should be the medium of direct transfer of subsidy and other financial assistance to the poor's account through DBT. Under the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana, people get loans easily to do business.
The slogan 'Garibi Hatao' was coined by him during the regime of late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. It is not that previous governments did not make efforts to reduce poverty. The difference is that in the 11 years of the Modi government, there was no inadequacy in the implementation of policies and schemes and the welfare schemes were actually implemented on the ground. Coming to the economy, the national account figures have positively surprised us. In the second half of the financial year, GDP grew by 6.5 per cent in real terms.
While it is true that the growth was 6.5 per cent, it is also worth noting that it is much lower than 9.2 per cent in 2023-24. Moreover, the pace of expansion this year was the slowest since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021-22. During the year, many economists have said that growth has returned to normal levels after recovering from the shock of the epidemic. The agriculture sector is expected to perform better for the current year. Monsoon has arrived early and the rains are expected to be better than normal. Higher agricultural production will not only contribute directly to growth but also add to rural incomes. This will support demand. Overall, there are signs of recovery in private consumption.
The RBI has also cut policy interest rates for the third time, which will increase liquidity in the market. It is not that there are no challenges for the economy. The trade war appears to be complicated by the tariffs being implemented by Trump. At present, the government has managed to achieve the fiscal deficit target of the last financial year. In such a situation, there is no shortage of funds in front of the government to continue public welfare schemes. If the state governments stop distributing rewari and implement public welfare schemes thoughtfully, then poverty can be reduced even further. The aim of public welfare schemes should not be to make people dependent on the culture of freebies, but to make people self-reliant. The World Bank has lauded the achievements of the Modi government, but has also warned about global uncertainties. If global uncertainties are resolved, all risks will also be over.