The transition to a higher poverty line provides an opportunity to redefine existing social protection programs particularly with the objective of better identification of intended beneficiaries and providing greater support to the genuine poor, the report argues.
The American Think Tank Brookings Institution has said that the Indian Government’s strong policy thrust on redistribution has helped the country eliminate extreme poverty. In a report, the Institution said that it has also led to strong inclusive growth in India over the last decade.
The report, authored by Surjit S. Bhalla and Karan Bhasin includes a national mission for the construction of toilets and attempts to ensure universal access to electricity, modern cooking fuel, and piped water. The report further states that the elimination of extreme poverty is an encouraging development with positive implications for global poverty headcount rates.
“The relatively higher consumption growth in rural areas should not come as a surprise given the strong policy thrust on redistribution through a wide variety of publicly funded programs,” the report says, alluding to the Swach Bharat Mission – a national mission for construction of toilets. Besides this, the report also alludes to attempts to ensure universal access to electricity, modern cooking fuel, and more recently, piped water.
“As an example, rural access to piped water in India as of 15th August 2019 was 16.8 per cent and at present it is 74.7 per cent,” the authors say, adding that “the reduced sickness from accessing safe water may have helped families earn more income.”
Similarly, under the Aspirational District Program, 112 districts of the country were identified as having the lowest development indicators. These districts were targeted by government policies with an explicit focus on improving their performance in development.
“This is an encouraging development with positive implications for global poverty headcount rates,” says the report. “This also means that time has come for India to graduate to a higher poverty line much like other countries.”
The transition to a higher poverty line provides an opportunity to redefine existing social protection programs particularly with the objective of better identification of intended beneficiaries and providing greater support to the genuine poor, the two economists argue.
