The Niti Aayog recently released its National Multidimensional Poverty Index 2023, according to which the poverty headcount ratio declined from 24.85 percent in 2015-16 to 14.96 percent in 2019-21. In absolute numbers this translates to 135 million people exiting multidimensional poverty in this time period. In addition, a few days earlier, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) released its own Multidimensional Poverty Index, which in a press note said that,...

KEY TRENDS   • Oxfam India's 2023 India Supplement report on poverty and inequality in India reveals that the gap between the rich and the poor is widening. Following the pandemic in 2019, the bottom 50 per cent of the population have continued to see their wealth chipped away. By 2020, their income share was estimated to have fallen to only 13 per cent of the national income and have less than 3...

A new study suggests that climate change-induced heatwaves in India can hinder or reverse the country’s progress in fulfilling the sustainable development goals (SDGs) Recurrent heatwaves have greater socio-economic impact in India than previously known. A study published in PLOS Climate suggested that heatwaves made more likely by climate change may impede India’s progress toward its sustainable development goals.  India has committed to achieve 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), including...

-Newsclick.in Political parties conveniently use such indices to support their positions and programmes. However, we must view it as a crucial marker of the economic well-being of people. Health is regarded as an unalienable human right in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Children and adults can less utilise their full potential if they suffer from hunger, which unleashes a cycle of events that limit their choices and opportunities. The second of...

-The Tribune Armed conflicts afflicting many parts of the world have taken a huge toll on global poverty eradication programmes, humanitarian assistance and relief provided by the aid agencies. Multilateral development banks and large aid agencies need to play enhanced roles in providing funds to eradicate multidimensional poverty. India needs to hold more vigorous drives to achieve the first of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals — to end all forms of...