Reality Check: One Third of World's Poor Live in India

BANGALORE: Out of the 1.2 billion people living in extreme poverty across the world, developing nation like India accounts for one-third of the world poverty ratio. In this country most of the people live on less than about 65 per day, a World Bank report on poverty has said.

As per the report by Planning Commission, in 2011-12 for rural areas, the national poverty line is recorded at 816 per capita per month in villages and 1,000 per capita per month in urban areas. Let us have a look at the poorest Indian states.

Chhattisgarh:
Ironically, Chhattisgarh, one of the fastest growing states in India is also one of the states with highest poverty rate with 39.93 percent people below poverty line.

This state was formed by partitioning 16 Chhattisgarhi-speaking southeastern districts of Madhya Pradesh on 1 November 2000 with Raipur as its capital city. 

The rate of poverty in Chhattisgarh is very high with an estimated poverty ratio in 2004–5. The uniform reference period consumption in this state was around 50 percent that is around double the countrywide level.

In Chhattisgarh, over half of the rural STs and urban SCs are below poverty line. Overall, the proportion of poor SC and ST households in the state is higher than the state average where more than 50 per cent of the state’s population comprises STs and SCs. As such, poverty is indeed a matter of serious concern in the state.

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