{"id":47177,"date":"2025-07-07T20:07:54","date_gmt":"2025-07-07T14:37:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=47177"},"modified":"2025-07-11T16:56:58","modified_gmt":"2025-07-11T11:26:58","slug":"india-ranks-4th-world-most-equal-societies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/07-07-2025\/india-ranks-4th-world-most-equal-societies","title":{"rendered":"India Ranks 4th among the World\u2019s Most Equal Societies"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus: GS3\/Economic Development<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>According to the World Bank, India\u2019s Gini Index stands at 25.5, making it the <strong>fourth most equal country in the world.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Major Highlights<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>India was placed after the<strong> Slovak Republic, Slovenia and Belarus.<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>India\u2019s score is <strong>much lower than China\u2019s 35.7<\/strong> and far lower than the <strong>United States, which stands at 41.8.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>India falls into the <strong>\u201cmoderately low\u201d inequality category<\/strong>, which includes Gini scores between <strong>25 and 30.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>India has a better score than all of the other 167 countries for which the World Bank has released data.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img data-dominant-color=\"e4e9ee\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"441\" height=\"441\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2025\/07\/india-achieves-greater-income-equality.png\" alt=\"india achieves greater income equality\" class=\"not-transparent wp-image-47179\" style=\"--dominant-color: #e4e9ee; width:343px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2025\/07\/india-achieves-greater-income-equality.png 441w, https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2025\/07\/india-achieves-greater-income-equality-300x300.png 300w, https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2025\/07\/india-achieves-greater-income-equality-150x150.png 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 441px) 100vw, 441px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Poverty Reduction:<\/strong> Extreme poverty dropped to 2.3% in 2022-23.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>171 million Indians moved out of extreme poverty between 2011\u201323.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Gini Index<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The Gini Index shows <strong>how equally <\/strong>income, wealth or consumption is distributed across households or individuals in a country.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It ranges in value from <strong>0 to 100.<\/strong> A <strong>score of 0 means perfect equality and a <\/strong>score of 100 means absolute inequality.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>The higher the Gini Index the more unequal the country.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Lorenz Curve: <\/strong>Graphically Gini Index can be explained by the <strong>Lorenz curve.<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A Lorenz curve plots the<strong> cumulative percentages<\/strong> of total income received against the cumulative number of recipients, starting with the poorest individual or household.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A perfectly equal distribution will be shown by a diagonal line, while the actual distribution will be shown by the Lorenz curve.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The Gini index measures the<strong> area between the Lorenz curve and a hypothetical line <\/strong>of absolute equality.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The bigger the gap, the more unequal the income.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img data-dominant-color=\"c6d2e1\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"473\" height=\"460\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2025\/07\/a-typical-lorenz-curve.png\" alt=\"a typical lorenz curve\" class=\"not-transparent wp-image-47178\" style=\"--dominant-color: #c6d2e1; width:401px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2025\/07\/a-typical-lorenz-curve.png 473w, https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2025\/07\/a-typical-lorenz-curve-300x292.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 473px) 100vw, 473px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Key Government Initiatives<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/blog\/pradhan-mantri-jan-dhan-yojana-pmjdy\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/blog\/pradhan-mantri-jan-dhan-yojana-pmjdy\/\">PM Jan Dhan Yojana<\/a>: <\/strong>In 2025 over 55.69 crore people will hold Jan Dhan accounts, giving them direct access to government benefits and formal banking services.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Aadhaar and Digital Identity:<\/strong> This system forms the backbone of welfare delivery by ensuring that benefits reach the right person at the right time through reliable authentication.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT): <\/strong>The DBT system has streamlined welfare payments, reducing leakages and delays.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Ayushman Bharat:<\/strong> The scheme provides health coverage of up to \u20b95 lakh per family per year.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The government launched the Ayushman Vay Vandana scheme to extend this coverage to all citizens aged 70 and above, regardless of income.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission has further strengthened this effort, with over 79 crore health accounts created to link individuals to digital health services.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Stand-Up India:<\/strong> To promote inclusive entrepreneurship, the Stand-Up India scheme provides loans between \u20b910 lakh and \u20b91 crore to SC\/ST and women entrepreneurs for setting up greenfield enterprises.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>This initiative empowers individuals from disadvantaged communities to participate in economic growth on their own terms.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY):<\/strong> Launched during the COVID-19 pandemic, PMGKAY has continued to serve the most vulnerable sections of society.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>PM Vishwakarma Yojana:<\/strong> Traditional artisans and craftspeople are vital to India\u2019s economic and cultural fabric, the scheme supports them with collateral-free loans, toolkits, digital training, and marketing support.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Conclusion<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>India\u2019s path to income equality has been steady and focused. The Gini Index of 25.5 reflects real change in people\u2019s lives.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>As the world looks for models that combine growth with fairness, India\u2019s example stands out.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Its experience shows that equality and development are not separate goals.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsonair.gov.in\/india-ranks-among-top-worlds-most-equal-societies-world-bank\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>AIR<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<h3><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h3>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">According to the World Bank, India\u2019s Gini Index stands at 25.5, making it the fourth most equal country in the world.<\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Major Highlights<\/strong><\/h3>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">India was placed after the Slovak Republic, Slovenia and Belarus.<\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">India\u2019s score is much lower than China\u2019s 35.7 and far lower than the United States, which stands at 41.8.<\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">India falls into the \u201cmoderately low\u201d inequality category, which includes Gini scores between 25 and 30.<\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">India has a better score than all of the other 167 countries for which the World Bank has released data.<\/li>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/07-07-2025\/india-ranks-4th-world-most-equal-societies\" class=\"btn btn-primary btn-sm float-end\">Read\u00a0More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47177","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47177","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47177"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47177\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47705,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47177\/revisions\/47705"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47177"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47177"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47177"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}