No. of poor in India fell by 415 mn in 15 years: UN report

United Nations, October 17

The number of poor people in India fell by about 415 million between 2005-06 and 2019-21, a “historic change” and a demonstration that the Sustainable Development Goal target of reducing at least by half the proportion of men, women and children of all ages living in poverty by 2030 is possible to achieve, even at a large scale, according to the UN.

228.9 million poor in India — by far the largest in the world Of them, 205 mn live in rural areas

97 million poor children in 2019-21

The new Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) released on Monday by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) at the University of Oxford said that in India, 415 million people exited poverty between 2005-06 and 2019-21.

The UN, in a press release on the report, said that “in India, some 415 million people left multidimensional poverty in a 15-year period — a historic change”.

“India is an important case study for the Sustainable Development Goals, the first of which is to end poverty in all its forms and to reduce at least by half the proportion of men, women and children of all ages living in poverty in all its dimensions according to national definitions by 2030, all while leaving no one behind,” it said.

The report said that based on 2020 population data for India, it has by far the largest number of poor people worldwide (228.9 million), followed by Nigeria (96.7 million projected in 2020).

“Despite progress, India’s population remains vulnerable to the mounting effects of the Covid pandemic and to rising food and energy prices. Integrated policies tackling the ongoing nutritional and energy crises should be a priority,” it said.

“Despite tremendous gains, the ongoing task of ending poverty for the 228.9 million poor people in 2019-21 is daunting — especially as the number has nearly certainly risen since the data were collected.

There were still 97 million poor children in India in 2019-21 — more than the total number of poor people, children and adults combined, in any other country covered by the global MPI. “Yet, these multipronged policy approaches show that integrated interventions can improve the lives of millions of people,” the report said. — PTI

However, there are red flags

Despite progress, India’s population remains vulnerable to the mounting effects of the Covid pandemic and to rising food and energy prices. — UN report