The failure of rural poverty to show a clear decline (or, perhaps, any decline) in India may be due to relatively sharp changes in relative prices that have boosted the cost of living of the poor while reducing the cost of living in the rich.
But perhaps the more important point is that India is *not* unitary. IIRC, rural poverty in some states (Gujerat, Maharashtra, Punjab) has shown a striking decline; while rural poverty in other states (U.P., Orissa, Bengal) has shown a striking increase over the past decade.
One thing that reforms have done is to let loose forces making for profound increases in regional as well as class-vs-class inequality.
Brad DeLong