Extreme poverty in India has dropped to negligible (about 1%) levels \ stacker news ~econ

The most recent survey, which covers the year to July, shows that only 1% of India’s households fell below the international poverty line in 2024, according to an analysis of the data by Surjit Bhalla, a former executive director of the IMF, and Karan Bhasin of the State University of New York, Albany. Heir to the famous “dollar a day” poverty line, the international poverty line now stands at $2.15 a day at purchasing-power parity. India has, therefore, all but eliminated the most extreme forms of poverty. Source

For long and till today in parts, India is so easily hailed as the land of the poor. Even on SN where Stackers don't get easily biased, I've witnessed a few comments which stressed the myth about extreme poverty for India.

I feel quite satisfied when I listen some new or change in this narrative. Today, I read the latest papers about India by IMF and went on to read some news articles. Most of them were filled with the prospects of India remaining robust with its growth and I didn't take long to share it here. #900788

But the most important part of these IMF papers have them missing which is in fact a myth breaker. But thanks to The Economist, they covered it.

India has undermined a popular myth about development

This is wonderful news in its own right. But India’s success also calls into question a common assumption about development: that the eradication of poverty requires a manufacturing miracle, drawing masses of peasants out of the farms and into the factories. More than 40% of India’s workers are still employed in agriculture. Perhaps people can leave poverty without leaving the land. Source

It's not that I want to criticize industrialisation or it's impact on giving the west an upper hand in macro economics, but I want to hold a view that development is also possible while adhering to agriculture and villages.

20 sats \ 1 reply \ @Undisciplined 1 Mar

India's poverty reduction is so underrated. People are constantly focused on negativity, but literally a billion people have lifted themselves out of poverty. Note that I don't use the terrible common "been lifted out of poverty" language that denies any agency to the Indian people themselves.

Thinking that industrialization is a necessary step is the post hoc ergo proctor hoc fallacy. Just because that was the path the West generally took does not mean it's the only path. India is developing in a different global economy than the West did and it makes sense the growth path would be different.

42 sats \ 0 replies \ @Coinsreporter OP 1 Mar

Thanks. You summed it up with excellent words. If we are to go by $2.15 as the extreme poverty line, TBH noone is extremely poor here. The lowest of the workforce earn around $5 a day.

Yes, there's a lot of disparity in wages, some sectors still exploit the oversupply of workforce - that in private education - most of the people now enjoying pretty much more than they were before 2014. I hate politics but I've to give a lot of credit to Mofi government for simplifying a lot of issues.