The World Bank’s October 2026 Poverty and Equity Brief, released on Friday, records India’s poverty rate plunging from 57.7% to 16.1% between 2011 and 2023, a decline that places the country among the world’s fastest. The report credits a 49.6‑crore movement of people above the lower‑middle‑income poverty line, and an extreme‑poverty drop to 2.6% under the $3‑a‑day threshold. Employment rose by 13.4 crore, while rural women’s participation in paid work surged, contributing to a narrowing rural‑urban welfare gap. One beneficiary, 32‑year‑old Rani from Uttar Pradesh, now works as a textile weaver, citing the employment push.
Sitharaman said the government’s focus on productive employment, stronger household incomes and effective public service delivery has driven these gains. She highlighted expanded social transfers, including food subsidies, as a key driver, and pledged to build on the progress by sustaining employment growth and household welfare.
The comments came amid a heated exchange with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who has opposed the planned sale of the government’s 60.72% stake in IDBI Bank to Canada’s Fairfax Financial Holdings. In a letter to IDBI staff on Thursday, Gandhi called the disinvestment a ‘tool to build the nation’ and questioned the impact on employees’ service conditions and reservations for SC, ST and OBC categories.
Sitharaman countered, accusing Congress of treating banks as ‘personal entities’ and pressuring them to lend without prudent practices. She recalled that the NDA government had recapitalised IDBI with more than ₹25,000 crore, reviving its balance sheet after years of losses.
The Ministry of Finance approved the sale on 14 October, valuing the 60.72% stake at approximately ₹53,000 crore ($5.5 billion). The transaction is slated to complete by the end of the current fiscal year, pending regulatory clearance from the Reserve Bank of India and the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs.