When several developed countries have pushed their population into abject poverty due to COVID-19, inflation and rising interest rates, how has India systematically eradicated poverty through the years? How is Bharat’s philosophy of combined, conjoint and collaborative well-being benefiting its citizens and the world?
Why have the once infamous so-called BIMARU States shown rapid progress?
Sri Ram’s stout devotee, born during the medieval era, the great poet, the one who created Shree Hanuman Chalisa, the powerful chant that can eradicate any illness, pain or challenge in life, Shree Goswami Tulsidas Ji once said through his very meaningful couplet
‘‘मुखिआ मुख सो चाहिऐ,खान पान कहुँ एक।
पालइ पोषइ सकल अँग,तुलसी सहित बिबेक।।’’
Meaning: The head of the country, community or society should be like the mouth, which is one for eating and drinking, but nurtures and prospers all the organs and improves the physical as well as mental well-being.
In other words, his intent was to describe the paramount quality of a leader. A leader is one who always focuses on nourishing, prospering and improving the well-being of all parts, sections, and segments of society, rather than only aiding the ones who are near and dear to him.
Bharat has finally got one and is nurturing many such leaders who think of the remotest of the remote and ensure the corner most area of the room gets and remains as illuminated as the centre. The new Bharat, the changing Bharat, the emerging superpower but does that mean an inclusive Bharat? There was a change in guard, a change in governance, a change in goals for Bharat in 2014 and the results are visible in the last half a decade, more so in the last three years, especially when COVID-19 struck the world at large.
Statistics of Poverty Alleviation
- 415 million people moved out of poverty in India within just 15 years from 2005/2006 to 2019/2021
- In 2005/2006, about 645 million people were in multidimensional poverty
- With this number declining to about 370 million in 2015/2016 and 230 million in 2019/2021
- People who are multidimensionally poor and deprived under the nutrition indicator in India declined from 44.3% in 2005/2006 to 11.8% in 2019/2021
- Child mortality fell from 4.5% in 2005/2006 to 1.5% in 2019/2021
When COVID-19 came in early 2020, it disrupted supply chains, hampered production, hindered productivity and slowed down demand, creating a severe impact on global economic growth. Due to the pandemic, globally people died of illness, lack of medicines, and lack of healthcare infrastructure. If physical catastrophe was not enough, economic challenges surfaced with communities getting impacted by losing their source of income when the job market became weak with manufacturing firms starting to cut jobs.
Slowly and steadily, as the world was coming out of COVID-19, the world witnessed a surprise conflict emerging in the European region (after eight decades) with Russia and Ukraine coming at loggerheads. The conflict continues and it continues to cause and perpetuate inflation both in terms of perishables including essential food items and enhanced energy costs creating challenges in social and economic output for the individuals and for the countries.
Rising inflation also saw steep and unprecedented rises in interest rates creating severe pressure on masses across the world, especially in the West. Taking an example of the UK, the situation today is so bad, that during summer break, parents have to skip night meals to make sure their kids have supper.
Despite the odds, India made remarkable progress during this pandemic, testing times and healthcare calamity.
Some of the parameters that ratify the statement mentioned above:
- In 2013, India’s inflation (CPI) stood at 10% whilst in 2023, it’s at 4.81%, less than half
- Foreign Direct Investment or FDI indicates the confidence of the rest of the world to put their long-term bets on the country jumped from 22 billion USD in 2013 to USD 46 billion in 2023
- Ease of doing business enhanced with the change in the corporate tax that stood at 33.90% in 2013 whilst in 2023, it’s at 22%
Bringing this favourable environment, the Government of India also pushed for infrastructure creation, which is the backbone of any developmental cycle, enabling the enhancement of earnings for the last man standing and effectuating a multiplier effect in the underlying economy
A couple of examples of roads & railways:
- Railway tracks that were electrified till 2014 resided at 4100 km. In the next nine years, it moved up from 4100 kms to 28100 kms (a whopping 7X)
- 25, 700 km of highways were built till 2014, since Independence (in 67 years), whilst the next 28, 000 km were built in the next nine years
The Government has rightfully focused on upfront infrastructure creation, healthcare, immunisation programmes and free food for health ensured that the common man also benefited from this rapid growth of Bharat. When the West is reeling under the heat of poverty and a crumbling healthcare system, India registered a decline of ten per cent in multidimensional poverty, the standard and parameters of which have been set up by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
Commendable Work on Poverty Alleviation
Between 2015 and 2021, poverty reduced in India from 24.85 per cent to 14.96 per cent. It’s notable how a good administration can change the fortune of a country. In Uttar Pradesh alone, between 2015 and 2021, a mammoth 3.43 crores people escaped multi-dimensional poverty, marking it the largest in any time in Indian history. The improvement didn’t come along due to one specific indicator, but across all 12 indicators. India did better through the years as set by the United Nations.
Jan Dhan account (the backbone of financial inclusion) has been the life-changing system for the rural poor that reduced poverty in rural India by 32.59 per cent between 2015 and 2016. The biggest factors that led to this decline in poverty are improved nutrition, betterment in sanitation, change in cooking fuel on account of gas cylinders and participation of children in schools (fewer school dropouts).
- Again in 66 years till 2014, India had 14.52 LPG connections, these connections more than doubled in the next 9 years to 31.36 Crores as of March 2023 Sanitation is linked to health, health is linked to poverty. Most Indians earlier were just an illness away from poverty.
- Thanks to the sanitation initiative through which in the first five years, the Government made over 11 crores toilets & 2.23 lakh Community Sanitary Complexes built across all States, and Union Territories under Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen) in rural areas alone between 2014 and 2019.
Bharat has always believed in and worked towards Ekatamik, inclusive, conjoint growth and development, since thousands of years ago when the Santani philosophy was established. This is a homecoming of the same philosophy as one always remembers only Ekangi growth can remain consistent and sustainable for longer periods of time.
Now Bharat has realised that all her efforts are towards improving the life, living and well-being of the last man standing and if that gets changed, Shrestha Bharat, Sarvottam Bharat, and Sashakt Bharat will emerge and lead the globe.
