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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, 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. India was among the 19 countries that halved their global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) value during one period

It said that 25 countries, including India, successfully halved their global MPI values within 15 years, showing that rapid progress is attainable.

In April, India surpassed China to become the world’s most populous nation with 142.86 crore people, according to UN data. The report demonstrates that poverty reduction is achievable. However, the lack of comprehensive data during the period of the COVID-19 pandemic poses challenges in assessing immediate prospects, it said.

In India, 415 million poor people moved out of poverty from 2005/2006 to 2019/2021, with incidence falling from 55.1 per cent in 2005/2006 to 16.4 per cent in 2019/2021.

In 2005/2006, about 645 million people were in multidimensional poverty in India, with this number declining to about 370 million in 2015/2016 and 230 million in 2019/2021.

The report noted that deprivation in all indicators declined in India, and “the poorest states and groups, including children and people in disadvantaged caste groups, had the fastest absolute progress.” According to the report, people who are multidimensionally poor and deprived under the nutrition indicator in India declined from 44.3 per cent in 2005/2006 to 11.8 per cent in 2019/2021, and child mortality fell from 4.5 per cent to 1.5 per cent.