Why in News ?

The World Bank’s biennial Poverty and Shared Prosperity Report: Reversals of Fortune was released. Provides a global audience with the latest and most accurate estimates on trends in global poverty and shared prosperity. 

Report Details

• For the first time in two decades, global poverty rate would go up due to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.
• The pandemic may push another 88 million to 115 million into extreme poverty or having to live on less than $1.50 per day, resulting in a total of 150 million such individuals, the Bank said in its biennial Poverty and Shared Prosperity Report.
• 9.1% to 9.4% of the world will be affected by extreme poverty in 2020 compared to 7.9% in the counterfactual scenario where the pandemic had not raged across the world.
• Many of the newly poor individuals will be from countries that already have high poverty rates while many in middle income countries (MICs) will slip below the poverty line, as per the report.
  • Some 82% of the total will be in MICs.
• Sub-Saharan Africa, with 27-40 million new poor, and South Asia, with 49-57 million new poor, will be badly hit.
• The pandemic and global recession may cause over 1.4% of the world’s population to fall into extreme poverty.

India and Poverty

• Government decided not to release the 2017-18 All India Household Consumer Expenditure Survey data from the 75th Round, there is an important gap in understanding poverty in South Asia
• The Bank has estimated India’s poverty numbers for 2017 based on strong assumptions resulting in considerable uncertainties.
• Why Data from India Required ?
  • India, along with Nigeria, is considered to have the largest number of the poor in the world.
  • India tops the global list in terms of absolute number of poor, going by the last national survey of 2012-13.
  • The country accounted for 139 million of the total 689 million people living in poverty in 2017.
  • The latest data on poverty in India is from a survey done in 2011-12, or almost a decade-old.
  • Thus the t he absence of poverty data in India means there is no objective and updated estimation of global poverty level, or the progress in its reduction.
  • If the world has to meet its United Nations-mandated Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) I to eradicate poverty by 2030, India has to achieve this goal first.

Way Forward

In order to reverse this serious issue of poverty countries will need to prepare for a different economy post-COVID, by allowing capital, labour, skills, and innovation to move into new businesses and sectors. With the support of international agencies and other state owned missionaries developing countries resume growth and respond to the health, social, and economic impacts of COVID-19.

Source : The Hindu

Topic

GS II : Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation

Current Affairs Compilation : 8 October 2020