In between 2006 and 2016, India lifted 271 million people out of poverty registering the fastest reduction in the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) according to a United Nations report released on July 11.
India has brought down the poverty population down to almost half – from 640 million in 2006 to around 369 million in 2016. However, in terms of intensity of MPI, which shows the deprivation faced by the poor person, there is a negligible change from 51.1 per cent to 43.9 per cent.
The report, developed by the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI), and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), states that 1.3 billion people are “multidimensionally poor”, in 101 countries (31 low income, 68 middle income and 2 high income). The multidimensionally poor is defined by a number of indicators including income, poor health, poor quality of work and the threat of violence.
The 2019 global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) states that all the 10 countries – Bangladesh, Cambodia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Haiti, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru and Vietnam with a total population of 2 billion have shown significant progress towards achieving Sustainable Development Goal 1, namely ending poverty “in all its forms, everywhere”.
The report states that deprivation in Ethiopia, India and Peru saw a significant reduction in all 10 indicators, including nutrition, sanitation, child mortality, drinking water, years of schooling, electricity, school attendance, housing, cooking fuel, and assets.
Jharkhand Fastest In Poverty Reduction
In India, Jharkhand with reduction of multidimensional poverty from 74.9% in 2005-06 to 46.5% in 2015-16 is among the fastest to come out of poverty. Jharkhand is among the poorest region that is improving the fastest in the world.
Jharkhand has improved the most among the four states — Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh — with most acute MPI.
India is among three countries where poverty reduction in rural areas is better than in urban areas, which is a sign of pro-poor development. India has significantly improved in areas such as “assets, cooking fuel, sanitation and nutrition”.
“Among selected countries with a significant reduction in MPI value, India demonstrates the clearest pro-poor pattern at the subnational level: the poorest regions reduced multidimensional poverty the fastest in absolute terms,” states the report.
Children Suffer Most
round 50 per cent of multidimensionally poor across the 101 countries are children that means – 663 mn children are multidimensionally poor of the total 1.3 bn.
The report stated that children, with lacking in essentials such as clean water, sanitation, adequate nutrition and primary education, are more likely to be deprived in all of the MPI indicators.
