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UPSC PAPER ON INDIA’S POVERTY - WORLD BANK - English

PAPER ON INDIA’S POVERTY: WORLD BANK

Why in News?

Recently, the World Bank published the paper titled 'Poverty has Declined over the Last Decade But Not As Much As Previously Thought'.

Highlights of the Report

Decline in Extreme Poverty: Extreme poverty in India was 12.3% points lower in 2019 compared with 2011, as poverty headcount rate declined from 22.5% in 2011 to 10.2% in 2019, with a comparatively sharper decline in rural areas. The World Bank defines “extreme poverty” as living on less than USD 1.90 per person per day.

Rural vs Urban Poverty: Poverty reduction was higher in rural areas compared with urban India as rural poverty declined from 26.3% in 2011 to 11.6% in 2019, while in urban areas the decline was from 14.2% to 6.3% in the corresponding period.

Small Farmers: Smallholder farmers have experienced higher income growth. Real incomes for farmers with the smallest landholdings have grown by 10% in annualized terms between the two survey rounds (2013 and 2019) compared to a 2% growth for farmers with the largest landholding.

Significance of the Report

• The World Bank’s paper is significant as India has no official estimation of recent periods. The last expenditure survey was released in 2011 by the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO), when the country had also released official estimates of poverty and inequality.
• It sheds light on how poverty and inequality have evolved since 2011 using a new household panel survey, the Consumer Pyramids Household Survey conducted by Centre for Monitoring the Indian Economy (CMIE).

World Bank

• It was created in 1944, as the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) along with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The IBRD later became the World Bank.
• The World Bank Group is a unique global partnership of five institutions working for sustainable solutions that reduce poverty and build shared prosperity in developing countries.
• India is also a member country.

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