Daijiworld Media Network – New Delhi

New Delhi, Jun 7: In a major socio-economic achievement, India has successfully brought down its extreme poverty rate to 5.3% in 2022–23, a sharp decline from 27.1% in 2011–12, according to latest World Bank data. The findings highlight that over 269 million Indians have been lifted out of extreme poverty in the past 11 years.

The number of people living in extreme poverty has come down from 344.47 million to 75.24 million, with the decline being seen across both rural and urban areas. States like Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar, West Bengal, and Madhya Pradesh played a major role, contributing to two-thirds of the reduction.

Based on the international poverty line of $3.00 per day (2021 prices), India has seen a broad-based improvement. Even under the older metric of $2.15 per day (2017 prices), the extreme poverty rate has dropped from 16.2% to just 2.3%, with only 33.66 million people currently below this line, compared to over 205 million in 2011.

The data also reveals a dramatic fall in rural poverty, from 18.4% to 2.8%, and urban poverty from 10.7% to 1.1% in the same period. Additionally, India’s Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) fell from 53.8% in 2005–06 to 15.5% in 2022–23, reflecting improvement in health, education and living standards.

As the BJP-led NDA government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi completes 11 years, the PM credited initiatives like PM Awas Yojana, Ujjwala Yojana, Jan Dhan Yojana, Ayushman Bharat and Direct Benefit Transfers (DBT) for transforming lives.

“Empowerment through inclusion, infrastructure and transparency has ensured that benefits reach the last mile. Over 25 crore people have overcome poverty, and this is a testament to our government’s resolve,” PM Modi stated.

The government’s push for digital inclusion, rural infrastructure and welfare-centric schemes has played a pivotal role in this transformation, marking a significant step toward building a self-reliant and equitable India.