Page 3 - Poverty

40% of Pakistan's population lives below poverty line: World Bank

The lender on Friday also revealed that poverty in Pakistan shot up to 39.4% as of last fiscal year with 12.5 million more people falling into the trap due to poor economic conditions

95 mn Pakistanis under poverty, urgent reforms needed: World Bank

Poverty in Pakistan shot up to 39.4 per cent as of last fiscal year, with 12.5 million more people falling into the trap due to poor economic conditions, the World Bank has said, as it urged the cash-strapped country to take urgent steps to achieve financial stability. The Washington-based lender on Friday unveiled draft policy notes that it prepared with the help of all stakeholders for Pakistan's next government ahead of the new election cycle, The Express Tribune newspaper reported. Poverty in Pakistan rose within one year from 34.2 per cent to 39.4 per cent, with 12.5 million more people falling below the poverty line of the USD 3.65 per day income level, according to the World Bank. About 95 million Pakistanis now live in poverty, it said. Pakistan's economic model is no longer reducing poverty, and the living standards have fallen behind peer countries, said Tobias Haque, the World Bank's lead country economist for Pakistan. The global lender urged Pakistan to take urgent ste

In 9 years, 135 mn rose above extreme poverty line: Rajnath Singh

The Defence Minister said that he believes there can be no other religion than humanity and that the Central government is working for people irrespective of their caste and religion

Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel transfers Rs 2,000 cr to beneficiaries

Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Sunday transferred Rs 2,055.6 crore into the accounts of beneficiaries as part of the Rajiv Gandhi Kisan Nyay Yojana (RGKNY) and other schemes

Mexico's poverty rate falls to 43.5% in 4 yrs as remittances almost double

The poverty rate in Mexico has declined from 49.9 per cent of the population in 2018 to 43.5 per cent in 2022, according to a study published Thursday by the country's poverty analysis agency. The study by the agency, known as Coneval, showed a decline in a key measure of poverty over the four-year period. The reduction means there were 5.7 million fewer people who reported incomes below the market basket for basics like food and clothing. It was unclear what was behind the reduction in poverty. President Andrs Manuel Lpez Obrador took office in December 2018, and since then has more than doubled the country's minimum wage. The minimum wage was equivalent to about $4.50 per day in 2018, and now buys about $12, in part due to the appreciation of the Mexican peso against the dollar. But remittances the money sent home by Mexicans working abroad have also almost doubled in the same period, going from around $33.5 billion in 2018 to an annual rate of about $60 billion in 2023, based

Multidimensional poverty estimates: Is India measuring poverty accurately?

Multidimensional poverty index measures poverty on the basis of parameters such as nutrition, child and adolescent mortality, and maternal health, among others

Urban migration twist in NITI Aayog's multidimensional poverty index

The MPI report also noted that of the 112 aspirational districts, barring Bijapur in Chattisgarh, all the other districts saw a decline in the share of people living under multidimensional poverty

135 million escaped poverty in five years, says NITI Aayog report

The report also highlighted that the Centre's welfare support during the peak of the Covid pandemic helped reduce the incidence of multidimensional poverty

135 mn people moved out of poverty in India in 5 years: Niti Aayog

As many as 13.5 crore people in five years ended March 2021 moved out of multidimensional poverty, measured by improvement in health, education and standard of living, with Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh registering the fastest reduction, said a Niti Aayog report on Monday. India has registered a significant decline of 9.89 percentage points in the number of India's multidimensionally poor from 24.85 per cent in 2015-16 to 14.96 per cent in 2019-2021, according to the second edition of the National Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI). While rural areas witnessed the fastest decline in poverty from 32.59 per cent to 19.28 per cent, urban areas saw a reduction in poverty from 8.65 per cent to 5.27 per cent. "A record 13.5 crore people moved out of multidimensional poverty between 2015-16 and 2019-21," said the report 'National Multidimensional Poverty Index: A Progress Review 2023' released by Suman Bery, Vice-Chairman, Niti Aayog. The National MPI measures simultaneous ...

India saw significant decline in multidimensional poverty in 5 years: NITI

Uttar Pradesh recorded the steepest decline in the number of poor with 34.3 million people escaping multidimensional poverty, according to the report

135 mn Indians move out of multidimensional poverty in 5 years: NITI Aayog

India witnessed 13.5 crore people moving out of multidimensional poverty between 2015-16 and 2019-21 with fastest reduction in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Rajasthan, a Niti Aayog report said on Monday. The report -- 'National Multidimensional Poverty Index: A progress of Review 2023' -- was released by Suman Bery, Vice-Chairman, Niti Aayog. "India has registered a significant decline of 9.89 percentage points in number of India's multidimensionally poor from 24.85 per cent in 2015-16 to 14.96 per cent in 2019-21," it said. The National MPI measures simultaneous deprivations across three equally weighted dimensions of health, education, and standard of living that are represented by 12 sustainable development goal (SDG) aligned indicators. The report said rural areas witnessed the fastest decline in poverty from 32.59 per cent to 19.28 per cent, while the urban areas saw a reduction in poverty from 8.65 per cent to 5.27 per cent. Providing multidimensional pove

The 'more perilous adventure' of the poor marked out in a movie

The 1974 blockbuster Roti, Kapda aur Makaan tapped into popular emotions sparked by rising inequality

India registers poverty reduction with 415 mn coming out in 15 years: UN

A total of 415 million people moved out of poverty in India within just 15 years from 2005/2006 to 2019/2021, the UN said on Tuesday, highlighting the remarkable achievement by the world's most populous nation. The latest update of the global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) was released by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) at the University of Oxford. It said that 25 countries, including India, successfully halved their global MPI values within 15 years, showing that rapid progress is attainable. These countries include Cambodia, China, Congo, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Morocco, Serbia, and Vietnam. In April, India surpassed China to become the world's most populous nation with 142.86 crore people, according to UN data. "Notably, India saw a remarkable reduction in poverty, with 415 million people exiting poverty within a span of just 15 years (2005/619/21)," the report said. The report demonstrate

2030 development goals in trouble, 575 mn people will remain very poor: UN

In a grim report, the UN warned Monday that at the current rate of global progress 575 million people will still be living in extreme poverty and 84 million children won't be going to school in 2030 and it will take 286 years to reach equality between men and women. The report on progress in achieving 17 wide-ranging UN goals adopted by world leaders in 2015 to improve life for the world's more than 7 billion people said that only 15 per cent of some 140 specific targets that experts evaluated are on track to be reached by the end of the decade. Close to half the targets are moderately or severely off track, it said, and of those 30 per cent have either seen no movement at all or regressed including key targets on poverty, hunger and climate. The ambitious goals for 2030 include ensuring that hunger is eradicated and nobody lives on less than USD 2.15 a day which is the extreme poverty line, providing every child with a quality primary and secondary school education, achieving gend

World leaders in Paris seek financial response to climate emergency

World leaders, heads of international organisations and activists are gathering in Paris for a two-day summit aimed at seeking better responses to tackle poverty and climate change issues by reshaping the global financial system. Developing nations point to an outdated system where the United States, Europe, China and other big economies that have caused most climate damage are leaving the poorest countries to deal with the consequences. The Paris talks also come as the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine and a global debt crisis have led to a drop in life expectancy and an increase in poverty in most countries around the world, the United Nations Development Program reported. French President Emmanuel Macron, who organized the summit, said the fight against poverty, efforts to curb global warming and the protection of biodiversity "are closely intertwined. We therefore need to agree together on the best means to address these challenges in the poor and emerging countries." The .

India as 'developed country' by 2047: Attainable goal, or chimera?

Even as India strives to climb the development mountain, the fact is that the mountaintop is already crowded. If it got there in 2047, India would be very much a late-comer, notes T N Ninan

Workers at poverty-fighting organisation World Bank struggle to pay bills

Andre Blount has been serving food to dignitaries at World Bank headquarters for nearly 10 years and says he has gotten exactly one raise -- for 50 cents. This week, as leaders from around the world are in DC for the spring meeting of the poverty-fighting organisation, Blount and his coworkers are trying to bring attention to what they see as a galling situation: The workers who put food on the table for an organisation whose mission is to fight poverty are themselves struggling to get by. Union leaders say a quarter of the World Bank food workers employed as a contract labourers through Compass Group North America receive public benefits, like SNAP, or food stamps, just to make ends meet. It's sickening, Blount, 33, said as he joined red-shirted union members this week on a picket line outside the development bank on a hot afternoon. They go around the world looking for how to help people, but you have hundreds of employees in DC who are struggling. Inside, meanwhile, suited-up

Down and out in paradise

The book examines the persistence of want in the wealthy United States, finding that keeping some citizens poor serves the interests of many

No 'Bhoodan land' in 13 Bihar districts for distribution among poor: Panel

The Bihar government has so far distributed over 73,000 acres of Bhoodan land' among the poor in 13 districts and no parcel is available now for allocation in these areas, according to a report. Around 1.06 lakh acres of land, donated during the 'Bhoodan' movement, spearheaded by human rights activist Vinoba Bhave in the 1950s, have been found not fit for distribution among the landless in these districts, he said. Notably, a three-member commission was set up by the Bihar government in 2017 to check the paperwork for the land donated during the movement. The panel has found that revenue records of around 1.06 lakh acres of land donated during the Bhoodan campaign in these districts are not confirmed' (not fit for distribution), the commission's head Ashok Kumar Choudhary told PTI. Gopalganj, Supaul, Muzaffarpur, East Champaran, Saharsa, Sitamarhi, West Champaran, Darbhanga are among these 13 districts. So far 73,245.47 acres of confirmed' donated land was distributed among landl

World Bank must act on climate change to check poverty, development

As warming intensifies and extreme weather worsens, the developing world will increasingly suffer the worst harms, making it more difficult for countries to meet their development goals