World Bank Report explodes the myth of shining India

Sunita Vakil

The latest report of the World Bank on poverty has exposed the myth of growth and development in the country since the economic reforms were introduced. In fact, many critics long before the report came, believed that the number of poor have increased since the reforms that have helped raise the number of billionaires. There is urgent need to redress this for poverty is the mother of all crimes and ailments.

The World Bank’s latest poverty data is a telling reflection of India’s poor anti-poverty infrastructure.

There is really nothing incredible or shinning about the latest World Bank Report that points a very dismal picture of the nation’s state of poverty. Though there is a surge in the number of Indian billionaires every year in the Forbes list, the very fact that even after a decade of economic reforms India is still home to the world’s largest number of poor, should be a sobering thought. According to the new World Bank statistics, about 456 million people in India that translates to roughly 42% of the population are living below the new international poverty line of $1.25 per day. And, this despite the fact that the country has entered its seventh decade as a sovereign nation. Read more