India ‘Not So Poor’, Says UN Body: 27 Crore People Lifted Out Of Poverty In The Past Decade

The 2018 edition of the global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) released by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) documents spectacular progress by India in reducing poverty in the country. It is estimated that over 27 crore people were pulled out of poverty and that poverty rate in the country declined almost by half in the last decade, between 2005-06 and 2015-16.

It has been noted by the index that the poverty rate declined from 55 per cent to 28 per cent over the ten year period under consideration. The administrator of UNDP while appreciating the Indian performance in reducing poverty observed that, “although the level of poverty particularly in children is staggering, and so is the progress that can be made in tackling it. In India alone some 27 crore have escaped multidimensional poverty in just ten years”.

The MPI is a unique way of examining poverty as it looks beyond the income criterion and examines three key dimensions namely health, education and living standards. The index looks at whether people are able to access clean water, sanitation, adequate nutrition and primary education. According to the index, an estimated 130 crore people live in multidimensional poverty. People are classified as being multidimensionally poor in the event when they underperform in at least a third of the MPI components.