Patrick French's glib statement

French states rather glibly that “several hundred million people have been taken out of extreme poverty” since economic liberalisation started. The fact is that over 300 million have actually been added to the bpl list in the reform years. The Indian Statistical Institute, in a report in 2009, said that rural poverty has increased by 20 per cent since 2004.

By Viswanath V
Published: Outlook