Below the poverty line

Context: The current pandemic and the self-inflicted lockdown has forced millions into below poverty.

Disagreements on Poverty: Faulty calculation of poverty due to poor data gathering systems.

• In 2012, the Indian government calculated 22% of the population to be below the poverty line, which was defined as Rs 37 or $1.2 on the purchasing power parity scale.

• The Millennium Development Goals project guessed it to be 22% as well.

• The Tendulkar Committee defined it to be 22% in 2009-10.
• Rangarajan Committee estimated it at 30% of the population in 2010.

Poverty Reduction in the 21st Century:

• The United Nations Development Programme: 271 million Indians have been lifted out of poverty between 2005-06 and 2015-16.

• Driven by urbanisation:  

• Multiple settlements changed their status from being villages (where >50% of the population relies on agriculture) to “non-municipal towns”(where >50% population works in non-agricultural sectors.)
• These provided multiple employment opportunities reducing the poverty burden.

The resurgence of Poverty:

• Impact of demonetization: on informal economy escalated the poverty levels.
• Poorly designed goods and services tax: faulty implementation rendered millions into poverty.
• Harsh Lockdown: forcing millions into unemployment and back to below poverty line.
• Reversed Urbanisation: Persistent undercounting of urban dwellers remains as they maintain their Voter IDs in their home villages. Now they are wary of returning back to the cities.