No Indian Will Be ‘Extremely Poor’ By 2030; Rate of Poverty Reduction Highest in India!

A century old American research group has stated that India will successfully eradicate extremely poor by 2030. This will mean that there won’t be any Indian, who can be described as ‘extremely poor’, in the next 12 years.

As per the ranking of the study, India is no longer the nation with maximum number of poor people.

Can India truely become a superpower by 2030?

No Extremely Poor Indian By 2030?

Brookings Institution, which was established in 1916, and is considered one of the leading sources on social research, has published a blog about the state of poor in the world.

Their study has revealed that India is eradicating extremely poor in a rapid pace, and the speed is highest in the world.

44 Indians are coming out of extremely poverty every 60 seconds in India, a speed which is highest anywhere in the world.

The report said, “At the end of May 2018, our trajectories suggest that Nigeria had about 87 million people in extreme poverty, compared with India’s 73 million. What is more, extreme poverty in Nigeria is growing by six people every minute, while poverty in India continues to fall,”

The study finds that by 2020, less than 3% will be extremely poor, and by 2030, there won’t be a single extremely poor.

What Is Extremely Poor?

As per the definition by Brookings, any one who is surviving for less than $1.9 a day, is extremely poor. $1.9 as per today’s currency conversion is Rs 131.

As of May 2018, Nigeria has world’s maximum extremely poor people at 87 million, compared to 73 million in India. This makes us the world’s 2nd nation with most number of extremely poor people.

However, while Nigeria is adding 6 extremely poor people per minute, India is reducing the same by 44 per minute.

Very soon, Democratic Republic of the Congo will grab #2 position.

How Extreme Poverty Is Being Removed in India?

As per N R Bhanumurthy, professor at the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy has expressed confidence that India can indeed eliminate extreme poverty by 2030, and the base for this has been the 1991 Economic Reforms which were unleashed to make India’s economy stronger.

Now, as per the Professor, all India need to do is follow the goals of UN-sponsored Sustainable Development Goals, and keep up the tempo of our growth story.

Interestingly, this study by Brookings support World Bank report, which stated that between 2004 and 2011, India was able to reduce poverty from 38.9% of the population to 21.2%. However, World Bank’s report was based on poverty in general.

Not only India, but entire South Asia, East Asia and the Pacific countries are able to eliminate extreme poverty due to higher per-capita income growth. Besides India, Indonesia, Bangladesh, the Philippines, China and Pakistan will also be able to reduce extremely poor by a great margin, by 2030.

You can find the blog: The start of a new poverty narrative right here.