New Delhi, July 22 -- The issue of inclusive economic growth has once again gained the spotlight. The World Bank said in early June that the number of Indians in absolute poverty, or those living on less than $3 a day based on purchasing power parity, dropped from 206 million in 2011-12 to 75 million in 2022-23.

This sharp decline was despite an increase in the poverty threshold used by the World Bank. The Indian poverty rate fell from 16.22% to 5.25%.

The poverty line used to make these estimates is the median national poverty line of 28 low-income countries, or those facing mass deprivation.

However, India is no longer a low-income country. It is a lower middle-income country that should hopefully become a upper middle-income country...