– Prahlad Sabnani
The results of various programs run by the Central Government for the benefit of the poor sections in India, especially in the midst of the Corona epidemic and after that, are now coming to the fore. Especially under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Anna Kalyan Yojana, the facility of free food grains has been provided to 80 crore citizens of the country and it has been continued even after the corona pandemic, as a result of which the poor class in the country has benefited a lot. Recently International Monetary Fund (IMF) has released a working paper on poverty estimation in India. In which estimates have been expressed about poverty in India on the basis of different assumptions. According to this working paper, 12 million citizens in India have recently come above the extreme poverty line.
According to another report released by the World Bank in the year 2022, in the year 2011, 22.5 percent of citizens in India were forced to live below the poverty line, but in the year 2019, this percentage has come down to 10.2. In the year 2016, the population of the very poor class in India was 12.4 crores, which has decreased to 1.5 crores in the year 2022. During the last two decades, more than 400 million citizens in India have come above the poverty line. In fact, during the last about 9 years, many major changes have been seen in the social, economic and cultural environment of India. Due to which poverty has reduced rapidly in India and India has achieved great success in poverty alleviation.
Extreme poverty is measured on the basis of per capita income of US$1.9 per day. According to the assessment made according to this definition, now only 0.9 percent of the citizens in India are living below this poverty line. Till a few years back, crores of citizens in India lived in extreme poverty. Globally, poverty is also measured according to another definition. According to this, a citizen whose daily income is less than US $ 3.2, that person is considered to be living below the poverty line.
Similarly, according to another report released by the United Nations (UNDP), poverty in India has decreased by more than half during the last 15 years. India has left many countries behind in the Global Multidimensional Poverty Index. The Government of India has provided successful leadership in bringing the poor class citizens above the poverty line. India has done a good job on the basis of standards like health, education and standard of living and various schemes implemented by the Government of India in this context have had a good effect. India has set an example in the fight against poverty. On this success of India, UNDP has strongly appreciated the Government of India.
Millions of citizens living below the extreme poverty line in India, coming above the poverty line in such a short time is a lesson for other countries of the world. In such a short span of time, such a large number of people in any country have been able to improve their economic condition; this has not happened anywhere. The change of poverty that has taken place in India is visible on the ground. This has changed the image of India in the whole world.
According to the Global Multidimensional Poverty Index 2022 report, before releasing the Global Multidimensional Poverty Index, surveys were conducted among households in 111 countries around the world. In total, 610 crore citizens of the whole world were surveyed and it was found that 120 crore citizens of the whole world are still struggling with extreme poverty. On the other hand, in the report released by the United Nations, it has been told that fuel facilities are not available to 59 crore poor citizens in different countries of the world. These families are not able to arrange fuel for cooking food and electricity for lighting in their homes. While India is fighting the war against poverty very strongly. In India, 41.5 crore citizens have been brought above the poverty line.
The United Nations has called it a historic change. There has been no increase in the level of extreme poverty in India during the Corona pandemic period and even after that, whereas in many other countries of the world, the situation in this context still remains pathetic. Even in a developed country like America, the number of homeless citizens is said to be more than 6 lakh.
In India in the decades of 60, 70 and 80, almost all of us citizens have been hearing since our childhood that India is a poor country and Indian citizens are very poor. Although the ancient period of India has been very bright, but the invaders and Britain looted India during their rule and made it a poor country. Now the cycle of time has turned completely and has come to stand on today’s Khandkal and India is seen providing its leadership in many matters to the whole world. The area of poverty alleviation has also now been included in it. There has been a lot of good news about India’s economic growth for the last few years. Rapid growth rate in GDP, rapid growth rate in exports of products from India and recently a report released by the International Monetary Fund, stating that there has been a huge reduction in poverty in India.
After attaining political independence in India, many slogans were raised to remove poverty, but there was no visible removal of poverty on the ground. Many schemes were made in India to remove poverty, many working groups and many committees were formed, but no major change was seen in poverty. Some important committees constituted in this context are being shown here. Planning Commission Working Group constituted in the year 1962, V.M.Dandekar and N.Rath Committee in the year 1971, Alagh Committee in the year 1979, Lakdawala Committee in the year 1993, Tendulkar Committee in the year 2009 and Rangarajan Committee in the year 2014.
Similarly, the steps taken by the then governments include, Community Development Project in the year 1952, National Extension Service Program was launched in the year 1953, Drought Area Victims Program was brought in the year 1970, Small Farmers Development Agency was established in the year 1971 Went. Along with this, efforts were made to reduce poverty through five-year plans, in the fourth five-year plan, it was resolved to get rid of poverty, bring social equality and establish social justice. But some encouraging results were not seen in terms of reducing poverty in India, while all the schemes implemented by the present central government between the year 2014 to the year 2022 could be successfully implemented.
Efforts have been made to take the benefits of various schemes run by the Government of India to the citizens standing in the last queue. For this, technology manufactured in India has also been used. In this context, during the last 9 years, the Central Government has worked in mission mode. First of all, citizens were motivated to construct toilets with the help of the government under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. This also instilled confidence among the poor class citizens that to keep their family healthy, open defecation has to be stopped and toilets have to be constructed. Ujjwala Yojana was implemented with a view to provide clean fuel to the rural families. Prior to the implementation of this scheme in rural areas, women had to make arrangements to bring wood from the forests for fuel.
Similarly, a very good effect of schemes such as Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana, Ayushman Bharat Yojana, Jan Dhan Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, One Nation One Ration Card Scheme, etc. has also been seen on the ground. In India, infrastructure is being developed under economic reform programs, there has been a revolution in the telecom sector, there has been a revolution in the digitization sector, aid money is being directly deposited in the bank accounts of poor class citizens, due to which corruption By ending in a way, the entire aid amount is reaching the hands of the poor class citizens. All leakages have been stopped. Rather, enthusiasm is now rising among the poor citizens as to how to move ahead economically. After coming above the poverty line, efforts are also being made to increase the income of the very poor citizens so that today’s poor class becomes tomorrow’s middle class and can contribute fully in the economic development of the country. This is the first time such an enthusiastic atmosphere is visible in the country after India attained political independence.
(The author is an economic analyst and columnist.)
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