Poverty decline in India masks persistent challenges in jobs, technology, and demographics

India's poverty rate has fallen, but challenges remain: Jobs, AI, ageing population. (See the linked source for details.)

Source

Indian Express — Explained →

Quick Revision

Prelims-testable facts

01India's poverty rate has fallen, with the share of the population living in extreme poverty declining from 27.1% to 2.6% between 2011 and 2023, according to the World Bank.
02The World Bank's data shows that extreme poverty in India has halved to 2.6% in 2023.
03India has lifted an estimated 496 million people out of poverty between 2011 and 2023.
04The poverty rate in India has fallen, but challenges remain, including jobs, AI, and an ageing population.
05The advent of artificial intelligence and high youth unemployment marks a new challenging phase in India's development.
06India has 'virtually eliminated' extreme poverty between 2011-12 and 2023-24, with extreme poverty levels declining to around 2%, according to a recent research paper by Arvind Panagariya.

Trap alerts

Most people think India has completely eradicated poverty, but actually it has 'virtually eliminated' extreme poverty.
Most people think the poverty rate in India has only recently started to fall, but actually it has been declining since 2011.

Prelims Practice MCQ

Multiple statementsmedium

Consider the following statements regarding Poverty Rate in India: 1. The poverty rate in India has fallen from 25% in 2015-16 to 6.9% in 2020-21. 2. The World Bank defines poverty as living on less than $2.00 a day. 3. The government has launched the Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) to promote financial inclusion and provide banking services to the poor. How many of the above statements are correct?

A.Only one
B.Only two
C.All three
D.None

The first statement is false because the fact list states that the poverty rate has fallen from 22.8% in 2011-12 to 8.9% in 2017-18, which does not match the given numbers. The second statement is false because the fact list states that the World Bank defines poverty as living on less than $1.90 a day, not $2.00 a day. The third statement is true because it is directly mentioned in the fact list.

Practice more MCQs like this →

← All current affairs