Poverty has fallen | Mint #AskBetterQuestions

Estimates of poverty reduction by a United Nations agency offer cause for satisfaction. As many as 415 million people in India were lifted out of poverty from 2005-06 to 2019-21, according to the latest update of its global Multidimensional Poverty Index. This would be a substantial fraction of our population, now estimated at over 1.4 billion. Also, India is among the 25 countries that managed to halve their multidimensional poverty. Further, those who are poor and deprived of cooking fuel fell from 52.9% to 13.9%, and those short of proper sanitation from 50.4% to 11.3%. Some of these gains may have the current government’s social development schemes to thank, but the report covers a span that includes the previous one’s stint in power. Regardless, it’s a remarkable achievement. Rapid economic expansion has been criticized for not benefiting the poor, but these estimates suggest that fast growth is indeed improving the lives of those who are the worst off. While there are signs of the pandemic having set poverty reduction back, we don’t have adequate data to draw conclusions. Still, India’s direct poverty-relief efforts mustn’t slacken even as we pursue output growth.