5 Facts About Poverty in India That Will Surprise You

India’s duel with poverty has been going on for decades. With the nation being home to one-third of the world’s poor for a long time, it has never been easy for the larger part of our population to make ends meet. The country’s impoverished state has also played a major driver of the total illiteracy rate. Consequently, the low illiteracy rate has contributed greatly to the degree of unemployability in the country. With population explosion, things have only worsened for this nation with limited resources. Currently, India holds the rank 103 on the Global Hunger Index, which is not good news.

But through all this struggle, we have still thrived. India is one of the fastest growing economies in the world and promises to remain so. With our continuous, never-ceasing efforts, a lot of positive developments have been observed lately, as far as the situation of poverty is concerned. Let us take a good look at these:

1.) India is no more home to the largest number of poor people

India has, for decades in a row, been the country with most number of people living in extreme poverty. In the past ten years though, India has slipped a rank lower on the list. The African nation of Nigeria is now home to the largest number of poor people in the world, with 87 million of its people living in extreme poverty, which is quite saddening. However, we can give ourselves a pat on our backs for losing the title no country in the world ever wishes to hold!

2.) The drop in poverty has not been a small one

According to the 2018 Multidimensional Poverty Index, the number of poor people in India has come down by 271 million in the past decade. This is quite terrific a progress, and has led to a halving of the total number of multidimensional poor in India. The multidimensional poverty index is a powerful tool for measuring overall economic state of a person. (To gain a better understanding of the term “multidimensional poverty, kindly visit this link.)

3.) The decline has positively impacted other fronts

The national Millennium Development Goal Report states that along with economic improvement, India has also seen progresses on the fronts of education and healthcare. Though a lot needs to be done on the fronts of neonatal care, adult education, and communicable diseases, we are only looking upwards in the future. 

4.) We have e-commerce to thank for a lot of it!

India’s GDP has significantly increased in the past two decades. The rise in e-commerce has also played a major part in the much needed thrust which the Indian businesses have received in the last few years. A lot of young people are turning to entrepreneurship, leading to creation of jobs. It has also played a promoter to the small scale industries where craftsmen can utilise their skills to make a living.

5.) There’s a lot our women are doing too…

The contribution of women to country’s GDP is 17 the, which is less than half the global average. This is quite alarming since women account for about 48 of the total population, and form a significant part of the workforce. However, much of their contribution goes either unpaid or underpaid. For example, we imagine a farmer to be almost always a man. The truth is far from it. Women make for about 33 percent of the much-needed cultivators and 47 percent of the agricultural labourers.

This attitude is slowly changing, with the society becoming more accepting of women’s professional choices with each passing day. They are no longer looked down upon as just the home-makers. Women from rural India too, are coming forward with their own enterprises, providing jobs to many. 

All these positive changes depict a phase of convalescence for the nation’s economic health. All socioeconomic developments, either big or small, make a transformational change in the big picture. If all of us begin to practice simple habits of giving, it will not be long before poverty becomes a  thing of past for us. A lot of charities in our country are working towards poverty alleviation, trying their best to make lives better for the poor people of our country. These non-profit organisations welcome volunteers who want to dedicatedly work for the cause. And since these organisations are not profit making entities, they need financial support to carry on and expand the good work they are doing. 

You too want to extend a hand of help, please visit here. 

“For it is in giving that we receive.” – Francis of Assisi

Established in 2000, Give is the largest and most trusted giving platform in India. Our community of 2.6M+ donors have supported 2,800+ nonprofits, impacting 15M+ lives across India.

Aadeep