Poverty level in India drops to 22%: PlanComm

Poverty in India declined to a record 22% in 2011-12, the Planning Commission disclosed on Tuesday. Over the last decade, poverty has witnessed a consistent decline with the levels dropping from 37.2% in 2004-05 to 29.8% in 2009-10. Kirthi Rao reports.

Poverty in India declined to a record 22% in 2011-12, the Planning Commission disclosed on Tuesday. Over the last decade, poverty has witnessed a consistent decline with the levels dropping from 37.2% in 2004-05 to 29.8% in 2009-10.

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The number of poor is now estimated at 269.3 million, of which 216.5 million reside in rural India

While the trend is not surprising, the extent of the decline has opened up a debate on the factors that have led to it. The numbers themselves may be debatable but they are reflective of a broader trend.

One theory is that this is the outcome of the trickle-down impact of the record growth witnessed in the first decade of the new millennium.

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