“The Modi Government is celebrating a drop in extreme poverty to 5.3% but this is based on a poverty line of $3 per day which is certainly not enough to live with dignity,” the Congress said on Tuesday (June 10, 2025) and accused the Centre of brushing aside “inconvenient data.”
The Opposition party's assertion came after the World Bank said India's extreme poverty rate declined sharply to 5.3% over a decade from 27.1% in 2011-12.
Is poverty being underestimated in India?
The World Bank revised upwards its threshold poverty line to $3 per day. Congress' media and publicity department head Pawan Khera said, "The Modi Government is celebrating a drop in extreme poverty to 5.3%. But this is based on a poverty line of $3 [₹250] per day — just enough to avoid starvation, but certainly not enough to live with dignity."
“The 2022-23 Consumption Expenditure Survey, conducted after an 11-year gap, came with a revised methodology — making direct comparisons with the UPA-era data appear favourable, but statistically invalid,” Mr. Khera said. “The 2017-18 survey was buried, likely to hide the fallout of demonetisation and GST. COVID-era poverty? Ignored,” he said.
