Poverty has decreased in villages . Rural poverty has declined to 4.86 percent in the financial year 2023-24, from 25.7 percent in 2011-12, mainly due to the effects of government assistance programs. This was stated in a report released by SBI Research on Friday. This report says that poverty in urban areas has also come down to 4.09 percent in the financial year ending March 2024. Whereas it was at 13.7 percent in the financial year 2011-12. The new estimated poverty line in the financial year 2023-24 is Rs 1,632 in rural areas and Rs 1,944 in urban areas.

Due to these reasons poverty decreased in villages

SBI Research said in its report on the Consumption Expenditure Survey that the sharp decline in the rural poverty ratio is the result of consumption growth with significant government support. According to the report, "This support is important because we find that changes in food prices have a significant impact not only on food expenditure but also on overall expenditure in general." The recently released Household Consumption Expenditure Survey by the Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation showed that the consumption inequality between rural and urban areas has reduced during August 2023-July 2024 as compared to a year ago.

Extreme poverty would be non-existent

According to SBI Research, the consumption expenditure survey shows that rural poverty declined significantly to 4.86 percent in FY 2023-24 (7.2 percent in FY 2022-23 and 25.7 percent in FY 2011-12). At the same time, urban poverty is estimated to be 4.09 percent (4.6 percent in FY 2022-23 and 13.7 percent in 2011-12). However, the research report has predicted that these numbers may undergo slight revision after the 2021 census is completed and new data on rural-urban population is published. The report says, "We believe that urban poverty may decline even further. The poverty rate in India may now be between 4.0-4.5 percent while extreme poverty will be almost non-existent."

Savings rate is low in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar

It says that improving physical infrastructure is writing a new story in movement in villages. This is a major reason that the income gap has reduced not only between rural and urban but also within villages. The report estimates that food inflation reduces consumption demand more in low-income states than in high-income states. It also says that the savings rate in most high-income states is higher than the national average (31 percent). According to the report, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar have low savings rates, which is probably due to a large part of the population residing outside the state.