New Delhi, May 1 -- Last week, the World Bank released its latest estimates of poverty for India. According to its Poverty and Equity Briefs, poverty in India declined from 16.2% in fiscal year 2011-12 to 2.3% in 2022-23, with 171 million people lifted out of it in 11 years-or 15.5 million persons per year. These estimates are based on its $2.15-per-day poverty line used to measure extreme poverty.

These numbers differ from the World Bank's estimates of poverty using the same $2.15 poverty line on its Poverty and Inequality Platform (PIP). Indian poverty, according to this, was at 22.9% in 2011-12 and fell to 13% in 2021-22, with the number of poor falling by 107 million, or 10.7 million persons per year. Not just the level of poverty, t...