India’s historic feat: Lifting nearly half a billion people out of poverty in 12 years

New Delhi: The World Bank’s latest assessment that nearly 496 million Indians have moved above the poverty threshold in just 12 years, marks one of the most significant socioeconomic transformations in modern history, according to a report in Gulf Today.

It highlights the World Bank figures which show that between 2011–12 and 2023–24, the proportion of Indians living below the World Bank’s lower-middle-income poverty threshold of $4.20 a day fell from 57.7 per cent to 16.1 per cent. Extreme poverty, measured at $3 a day, declined even more dramatically, from 27.1 per cent to just 2.6 per cent.

The report points out that several factors have contributed to this progress. Expanded banking access through the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, Aadhaar-linked direct benefit transfers, subsidised food distribution, rural electrification, sanitation, infrastructure development and digital connectivity have strengthened household security and economic participation. The provision of free food grains to vulnerable households has also helped protect millions against food insecurity and economic shocks.

The report highlights that India’s economic growth has provided an important foundation for these achievements. Sustained growth creates resources for infrastructure, public services and social protection. The country’s experience demonstrates that growth becomes more meaningful when its benefits reach historically excluded communities.

However, the report also has a word of caution against the country turning complacent as the World Bank estimates that approximately 35 million Indians remain in extreme poverty, while around 232 million live below the broader $4.20 threshold.

Crossing a poverty line does not automatically guarantee financial security. Families continue to face challenges involving healthcare costs, education, insecure employment and inadequate housing. India’s next challenge is therefore to move from poverty alleviation towards lasting prosperity. This requires productive employment, stronger manufacturing, better education, accessible healthcare and greater economic opportunities for women and young people, it added.