According to the World Bank report, the number of extreme poor in India decreased by 12.3%

New Delhi, April 20. Extreme poverty is declining rapidly in India. According to a World Bank report, the number of extremely poor in India has decreased. Between 2011 and 2019, the number of extremely poor has decreased by 12.3 per cent and rural areas have outperformed urban centres.

The document, prepared by economists Sutirth Sinha Roy and Roy van der Weid, said the country has not released any official estimates of poverty and inequality for more than a decade. The survey based on households’ consumption was released by the NSS in 2011.

Poverty in India has decreased over the past decade, but the reduction in poverty rates in rural areas is higher than in urban centres, said the report, titled Less than Thinking. On the other hand, the authors say that during demonetisation, urban poverty increased by 2 per cent in 2016 and declined sharply thereafter. Poverty in villages increased by 0.1 per cent in 2019, possibly due to the slowdown in economic growth.

At the same time, it has been said in the report that our estimates regarding the increase in consumption in the national accounts and poverty based on the survey data have been more cautious than the possibilities projected earlier. It said poverty reduction during 2015-2019 is projected to be lower than previously estimated, based on growth in private final consumption expenditure. If we consider the comparative period, the IMF study shows a sharp decline in poverty as it says that extreme poverty has come down to 1.3 per cent during 2019-20. It is noteworthy that the poverty estimates are based on the consumption and expenditure survey of households conducted by the National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO). Such updated survey is available only for 2011-12. The survey conducted in 2017-18 was not made public.

On November 8, 2016, the Government of India announced the demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes. The government took this decision to curb black money and terror funding being done to spread terror. In this time, the government had given people a chance to deposit their old notes in banks.