BBC: Is India winning the war on poverty?
Is India winning the battle against poverty? Going by the latest figures, yes.
The number of Indians living in extreme poverty has fallen from 37% to 22% in the past seven years, according to the latest official data from the Planning Commission.
The good news is that poverty in large swathes of dirt-poor northern India – states like Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and Uttar Pradesh, which have been considered a drag on India's development – has fallen sharply.
Today there are more people living in extreme poverty in the economically prosperous western state of Gujarat (16.63%) than in the traditional northern laggard Rajasthan (14.71%). …
… Despite the good tidings, India's war on poverty is far from over.
Remember, 270m Indians still live in extreme poverty. That is one in five Indians.
Leave a Reply