The high GDP growth between 2005-10, at an average of 8.5 per cent, has lifted 15 per cent of the population above the poverty line, according to a report on the latest National Sample Survey Organisation findings.
The number of people below the poverty line declined from 37 per cent in 2004-05 to 22 per cent in 2011-12. This means that 40 million people are no longer below the poverty line in 2011-12 compared to 26 million in 2004-05. While this is good news, it underscores the imperative for the government to get GDP growth back on track to at least eight per cent if not more. The state governments have an equal responsibility.
There is no doubt that most of this accomplishment is due to schemes like the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, which put purchasing power in the hands of the poorest of the poor. It is a pity that the scheme did not work efficiently and uniformly throughout India and was scuttled by corruption. While schemes like NREGA and myriad others have helped alleviate poverty, a more rational and long-lasting solution to poverty is to spread employment opportunities so that people can live with dignity. Government schemes, albeit heroic, reek of corruption and waste and spread a culture of beggary. A country that boasts of a near $2 trillion economy cannot afford this kind of leakage and laissez-faire, especially if it is to take advantage of, and provide jobs for, its young demographic profile. If people have jobs the subsidy burden on the government will be less as they will have the purchasing power to fend for themselves. This will also help curb the fiscal deficit which the government is trying in vain to control. The money thus saved can be diverted to social sectors like education and health, both of which are also sorely neglected.