Business News / Good news from NITI Aayog - Poverty is decreasing rapidly in India

Business News: There is good news for the Indian economy. Poverty is decreasing rapidly in the country. This information has been received from the NITI Aayog report. NITI Aayog CEO B.V.R. Subramaniam said on Sunday that the latest Household Consumer Expenditure Survey indicates that India's poverty level has fallen below 5 percent and people are becoming more prosperous in both rural and urban areas. According to data released late Saturday night by the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), per capita monthly household expenditure is set to more than double in 2022-23 compared to 2011-12, reflecting rising levels of prosperity in the country.

Increase in average income of common people

Subramaniam said the consumer expenditure survey also reflects the success of poverty alleviation measures taken by the government. He said the survey divided the population into 20 different categories and the data revealed that the average per capita monthly expenditure for all categories was Rs 3,773 in rural areas and Rs 6,459 in urban areas. The average per capita monthly expenditure of the bottom 0-5 per cent category is estimated at Rs 1,373 in rural areas and Rs 2,001 in urban areas.

Consumption increased in both rural and urban areas

The NITI Aayog CEO said that if we take the poverty line and scale it up to today's rate with the Consumer Price Index (CPI), we will see that the average consumption of the bottom 0-5 per cent category is almost the same. This means that poverty in the country is only in the 0-5 percent group. He said that this is my assessment. But economists will analyze it and bring out absolutely correct figures. The NSSO estimates are based on data collected from 1.55 lakh rural households and 1.07 lakh urban households. Subramaniam said the data shows that consumption has increased by about 2.5 times in both rural and urban areas.

Consumption increased rapidly in rural areas

He said that this shows that progress is being made in both urban and rural areas in the country. Subramaniam said the survey also shows that consumption in rural areas is growing faster than urban areas, narrowing the disparities between the two regions. The survey also takes into account the benefits of government welfare schemes, which have contributed to the consumption of poor families who have received free food grains and goods such as bicycles and school uniforms for their children.

Expenditure on things other than food increased

The survey shows that the gap was 84 per cent in 2011-12 and has reduced to 71 per cent in 2022-23. This gap was at its peak at 91 percent in 2004-05. The NSSO survey also indicates a significant decline in the share of grain and food consumption in the total expenditure of both rural and urban households in the country. He said this means that people are becoming prosperous with additional income. With this increased prosperity they are spending more on things other than food. Even in food, they are drinking more milk, eating fruits and more vegetables.