UN lauds India for lifting 415 million out of poverty
The United Nations (UN) on Tuesday praised India for lifting 415 million people in the country out of poverty within 15 years. A UN report stated that India witnessed the poverty incidence drop from 55.1% in 2005-06 to 16.4% in 2019-21. The report showed that apart from India, 24 other countries successfully halved their Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) values in 15 years.
Why does this story matter?
Since India's independence, poverty reduction has been one of the prime issues faced by the government. In April this year, India superseded China to become the world's most populous country. However, the World Poverty Clock's report in 2022 stated that India surpassed Nigeria as the world's poverty capital, with 83 million people living below the UN's estimated poverty line of $2 per day.
Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Vietnam alongside India
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) released the report on the global MPI at the University of Oxford. The countries which achieved this feat apart from India include Cambodia, China, Congo, Honduras, Indonesia, Morocco, Serbia, and Vietnam. Citing India as an example, the report also highlighted that rapid progress in poverty reduction is attainable.
230 million were in multidimensional poverty in 2019-21
The report further stated in 2005-06, 645 million people in India were living in multidimensional poverty. The number declined to 370 million in 2015-16 and dropped to 230 million in 2019-21. Around 44.3% of India's population lived in multidimensional poverty and was deprived of nutrition in 2005-06, which reduced to 11.8% in 2019-21. Child mortality fell from 4.5% to 1.5% in the same period.
Poorest states, marginalized communities grew fastest
The report shows that deprivation decreased across all indicators in India. The poorest states and marginalized groups, including disadvantaged castes, made the fastest progress. However, the lack of comprehensive data from the COVID-19 pandemic makes it difficult to assess the immediate prospects for poverty reduction, the report added. Notably, the 2022 Credit Suisse Global Wealth Report said India's wealth inequality peaked during the pandemic.
80 crore people still dependent on Public Distribution System
For the poorest, in January, the Centre launched the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Ann Yojana (PMGKAY), under which 80cr people receive free foodgrains. This came after it drew criticism in December for announcing the discontinuation of a food security scheme. Meanwhile, a 2022 World Bank report showed Indians accounted for 80% of people who slipped into poverty globally in 2020 due to the pandemic.
NSO report showed consumer spending fell before pandemic
Even before the pandemic, the consumption expenditure survey carried out by the National Statistical Office (NSO) in 2017-18 showed that consumer spending dropped for the first time in over four decades. After the report was published in Business Standard through a whistleblower, the Centre decided to scrap the report, citing "data quality issues." India reportedly has no official poverty estimates under the present dispensation.
Government scrapped report despite officials supporting its publication
Then Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) Krishnamurthy Subramanian and the country's independent statistical body, the National Statistical Commission (NSC)'s Chairman Bimal Kumar Roy, both spoke on the record in favor of making the 2017-18 report public. However, an independent committee set up by the government to examine the NSO report neither raised any concern regarding data quality nor suggested the report be scrapped.
