Palak Chauhan
By: Palak Chauhan
India is the second most populous country two – thirds of people in India live in poverty 68.8% of the population lives on less than $2 a day and the other half of the population have less than $1.25 to survive.
These living conditions are:
Malnutrition – More than 200 million people do not have access to sufficient food, including 61 million children. 7.8 million infants are found to have a birth weight of less than 2.5 kilograms.
Limited access to education – Despite making strides in improving the literacy rates in general, access to adequate education remains out of reach for many groups in India, especially for those who live in remote areas.
Unequal distribution of wealth and resources – According to the Harvard Business Review, the wealthiest 10% of people in India hold 77% of the nation’s wealth.
Lack of healthcare facilities- The healthcare that the government provides for people living in poverty in India is inadequate in geographic areas leading to untreated diseases and worsen health conditions.
Prevalence of Child marriage – According to an investigation by the medical journal the Lancet, 44.5% of girls are still married in India before they are of a legal age.
Child labour – Although child labour is prohibited in India according to official figures 12.5 million children between the age of 5 and 14 are working in factories, quarries, and in private households.
High infant mortality rate – 1.4 million children die each year in India before their fifth birthday and India is one of those countries with high infant mortality rates.
Expert’s view on India’s poverty
Lekha Chakraborty, professor and chair at the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, pointed out that any composite index has limitations as it is highly skewed based on the specific choice of variables as well as the methodology used.
“Even the Human Development Index (HDI) constructed by the UN every year is not free from conceptual and methodological criticisms as it is based on only selected three indicators and the way weightage is given to each of the variables,” Chakraborty told DW.
“Poverty is dynamic, like chasing a moving target — using MPI for the policy decisions will be highly controversial,” she added.
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