27 crore people in India lifted out of poverty in 10 years, says UN report

New Delhi: In depressing times of Covid-19, this is a good news to cheer about. About 27 crore people were lifted out of multi-dimensional poverty between 2005-06 and 2015-16, according to a UN report. The report also noted that India managed to move out maximum people from this category, as compared to other nations studied.

Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar today shared the details of United Nations Development Programe (UNDP) report which stated that more than 27 crore people in the country have come out of poverty in the last 10 years.

Happy to see the @UNDP report that more than 27 crore people have come out of poverty in #India in the last 10 years. It is a big positive development.#MultidimensionalPovertyIndex @PMOIndia pic.twitter.com/C70SPWkZEr

— Prakash Javadekar (@PrakashJavdekar) July 18, 2020

Javadekar termed the achievement as a big positive development.

According to the data, released by the UNDP and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative 65 out of 75 countries studied, reported significant decline in their multidimensional poverty levels.

India recorded the world’s largest reduction in multidimensional poverty between 2005-06 and 2015-16, according to the latest UN report.

What is Multidimensional poverty and its criteria

Multidimensional poverty encompasses the various deprivations experienced by poor people in their daily lives such as poor health, lack of education, inadequate living standards, poor quality of work, the threat of violence, and living in areas that are environmentally hazardous, among others.

The report stressed that while the new figures released show that before the Covid-19 pandemic hit, progress was being made in tackling multidimensional poverty, but that progress is now at risk.

“Covid-19 is having a profound impact on the development landscape. But this data – from before the pandemic – is a message of hope. Past success stories on how to tackle the many ways people experience poverty in their daily lives, can show how to build back better and improve the lives of millions,” Director of OPHI at the University of Oxford Sabina Alkire said.