Did you know that Covid-19 has to led to the first rise in extreme poverty in a generation?
Almost 119-124 million people globally were pushed back into poverty in 2020 a majority of which are from rural areas.
How sad is that!
The impact of Covid-19 on India was disastrous especially affecting the lower-income section of the population.
According to the CMIE Report, approximately seven million jobs were lost in a year due to the pandemic. And the consumption has fallen down and public spending on development was slacking.
So, poverty in India has risen due to the pandemic. It is estimated that one hundred fifty to one hundred ninety-nine million additional people have fallen below the poverty line by 2021.
States such as Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and Odisha are the most affected as poverty ranges from 50% to 80% in the rural area and 40% to 70% in the urban area.
The First-Year Plan to eradicate poverty in India came into being in 1951 in which two hundred districts were called ‘aspirational districts and were the main focus of these programs.
Since then, these districts have become the center of all development plans in India. On average, one hundred developmental programs have been implemented to date all highlighting ways to eradicate poverty.
But still, a section of the population always remains below the poverty line as stated by the World Economic Forum (WEF).
Moreover, it’s said that it would take almost seven generations of low-income families to even take aside the country’s mean income.
This would make poverty the next default hereditary burden after caste and religion.
The sustainable development goal is to get rid of extreme poverty by 2030.
However, according to the global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI), India ranks at sixty-sixth position out of one hundred nine countries worldwide.
Furthermore, a professor at the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, NR Bhanumurthy said that India will be able to eliminate extreme poverty by 2030 if it maintains the track record of the past ten years by continuing to grow at 7%-8%.
Adding further, according to the World Poverty Clock, 7% of Indians are living under extreme poverty and 0.6 Indians are escaping every minute.
Taking note of these statistics India can get rid of extreme poverty and be called “Poverty Free India” by 2030.
Are you looking forward to a poverty-ridden India?