UPSC Mains 2016 GS Paper 1 Q9: model answer

NITI Aayog's National Multidimensional Poverty Index estimates that about 24.8 crore Indians escaped multidimensional poverty between 2013–14 and 2022–23. The harder question is which strategy gets the remaining poor out.

Processes of deprivation

• Lack of education and skills; poor health and nutrition.
• Lack of assets (land, credit) and secure jobs.
• Social exclusion by caste, gender and disability.
• Lack of voice and access to institutions; indebtedness.

Examples of liberation

• Education: the Right to Education Act (2009) and mid-day meals (PM POSHAN).
• Employment: MGNREGA (2005) gives a legal right to work.
• Assets and credit: SHGs under DAY-NRLM, Jan Dhan accounts, MUDRA loans.
• Food and health: the National Food Security Act (2013), Ayushman Bharat.
• Voice: reservation in panchayats, the Right to Information.
• Multidimensional poverty in India fell substantially between 2015–16 and 2019–21 (NITI Aayog), reflecting gains in such capabilities.

What the evidence favours

• Direct support works where markets fail: PDS and Ujjwala lowered deprivation in food and cooking fuel quickly.
• Growth that creates jobs reaches the poor faster than growth that does not; Bangladesh's garment sector is a useful contrast with India's capital-intensive growth.
• The best results come from combining the two: assets (houses, toilets, bank accounts) plus skills and wage work.

The verdict

Income support alone cannot end poverty. Removing the chains of deprivation, through education, health, assets and voice, is the essential condition.