The
World Bank estimates that 456 million Indians (41.6% of the total Indian population) now live under the global poverty line of $1.25 per day (PPP). This means that a third of the global poor now reside in India. However, this also represents a significant decline in poverty from the 60 percent level in 1981 to 42 percent in 2005. The rupee has decreased in value since then, while the official standard of 538 (urban)/356 (rural) rupees per month has remained the same.
[6][7] Income inequality in India is increasing, with a
Gini coefficient of 32.5 in 1999-2000.
[8] However, according to the latest NCAER estimates, in 2009, only 15.6% of the households or 200 million people, had income levels less than Rs 45,000 annually($ 1.4 PPP per person)
[9].On the other hand, the
Planning Commission of India uses its own criteria and has estimated that 27.5% of the population was living below the
poverty line in 2004–2005, down from 51.3% in 1977–1978, and 36% in 1993-1994
[2]. The source for this was the 61st round of the National Sample Survey (NSS) and the criterion used was monthly per capita consumption expenditure below Rs. 356.35 for rural areas and Rs. 538.60 for urban areas. 75% of the poor are in rural areas, most of them are
daily wagers,
self-employed householders and landless labourers.
Although the
Indian economy has grown steadily over the last two decades, its growth has been uneven when comparing different social groups, economic groups, geographic regions, and rural and urban areas.
[5] Between 1999 and 2008, the annualized growth rates for
Gujarat (8.8%),
Haryana (8.7%), or
Delhi (7.4%) were much higher than for Bihar (5.1%), Uttar Pradesh (4.4%), or Madhya Pradesh (3.5%).
[10] Poverty rates in rural Orissa (43%) and rural Bihar (41%) are among the world's most extreme.
[11] A study by the
Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative using a
Multi-dimensional Poverty Index (MPI) found that there were 421 million poor living under the MPI in Bihar, Chattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. This number is higher than the 410 million poor living in the 26 poorest African nations.
[3]
Despite significant economic progress, one quarter of the nation's population earns less than the government-specified
poverty threshold of 12 rupees per day (approximately USD $0.25). Official figures estimate that 27.5%
[12] of Indians lived below the national poverty line in 2004-2005.
[13] A 2007 report by the state-run National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector (NCEUS) found that 77% of Indians, or 836 million people, lived on less than 20 rupees (approximately USD $0.50 nominal; $2 PPP) per day.
[14]It is relevant to view poverty in India on a PPP basis as food etc. are purchased in Rupees. So the annual income of a family of four at $2 PPP/day (current exchange rate of Rs 47 = $1) would be Rs 137,240 (i.e. 1.37 lakh Rupees).
[15] According to a recently released World Bank report, India is on track to meet its poverty reduction goals. However by 2015, an estimated 53 million people will still live in
extreme poverty and 23.6% of the population will still live under $1.25 per day. This number is expected to reduce to 20.3% or 268 million people by 2020.
[16] However, at the same time, the effects of the worldwide
recession in
2009 have plunged 100 million more Indians into poverty than there were in 2004, increasing the effective poverty rate from 27.5% to 37.2%.
[17]
As per the 2001 census, 35.5% of Indian households availed of banking services, 35.1% owned a radio or transistor, 31.6% a television, 9.1% a phone, 43.7% a bicycle, 11.7% a scooter, motorcycle or a
moped, and 2.5% a car, jeep or van; 34.5% of the households had none of these assets.
[18] According to Department of Telecommunications of India the phone density has reached 33.23% by Dec 2008 and has an annual growth of 40%.
[19]. This tallies with the fact that a family of four with an annual income of 1.37 lakh Rupees could afford some of these luxury items.