India’s Poverty Ratio declines to around 22% in 2011-12

(The percentage of population below poverty line in 2011-12 has been estimated at 25.7% in rural areas, 13.7% in urban areas).

The poverty estimates for 2011-12 released by Planning Commission (68th Round NSS-2011-12) reveals that there has been a reduction in poverty levels across the country. The percentage of population below poverty line declines to 21.9% in 2011-12 from 29.8% in 2009-10 and 37.2% in 2004-05. The overall rural poverty has declined to 25.7% in 2011-12 from 33.8% in 2009-10 and 41.8% in 2004-05, whereas the urban poverty has declined to 13.7% in 2011-12 from 20.9% in 2009-10 and 25.7% in 2004-05.

It is encouraging to note that most of the northern and central states have been able to reduce their poverty numbers significantly over the period of two years. The percentage of population below poverty line in Bihar declined by around 20 percentage points and Rajasthan by about 10 percentage points. Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand have also been able to reduce their percentage of population below poverty line by around 5 percentage points and more. While states like Delhi, Himachal Pradesh and Jharkhand have shown only marginal decline in percentage of population below poverty line. However, the increase in percentage of population below poverty line in J&K is disappointing.

   Trend in variation in population below poverty line over 2009-10 to 2011-12

States	2004-05	2009-10	2011-12	Decline over the period 2011-12 over 2009-10 (percentage points)
Bihar	54.4	53.5	33.7	19.8
Chhattisgarh	49.4	48.7	39.9	8.8
Delhi	13.1	14.2	9.9	4.3
Haryana	24.1	20.1	11.2	8.9
HP	22.9	9.5	8.1	1.4
J & K	13.2	9.4	10.4	(0.9)
Jharkhand	45.3	39.1	36.9	2.1
MP	48.6	36.7	31.7	5.1
Punjab	20.9	15.9	8.3	7.6
Rajasthan	34.4	24.8	14.7	10.1
UP	40.9	37.7	29.4	8.3
Uttarakhand	32.7	18	11.3	6.7
India	37.2	29.8	21.9	7.9

Source: PHD Research Bureau, compiled from Planning Commission

The percentage of population below poverty line stands highest in the state of Chhattisgarh at around 40% followed by Jharkhand and Manipur at about 37% each, Arunachal Pradesh at around 35%, Bihar at about 34%, Odhisa, Assam and Madhya Pradesh at around 32% each. However, states like Delhi, Daman & Diu, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh; Kerala holds percentage of population below poverty line less than 10%.