Half of India’s Population Lives Below The Poverty Line

*By Arun Kumar *

03 August, 2010
*WSWS.org* <http://wsws.org/articles/2010/aug2010/indi-a02.shtml>

According to a new Oxford University study, 55 percent of India’s population
of 1.1 billion, or 645 million people, are living in poverty. Using a
newly-developed index, the study found that about one-third of the world’s
poor live in India.

The Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) has been developed by the Oxford
Poverty and Human Development Initiative and the United Nations Development
Program (UNDP) as a more precise and comprehensive means of estimating
poverty levels. It will replace the Human Poverty Index that has been used
in the UNDP’s annual Human Development Report since 1997.

The MPI assesses a range of factors or “deprivations” at the household level
as well as income and assets. These include: child mortality, nutrition,
access to clean drinking water, sanitation, cooking fuel, electricity, and
years of schooling and child enrolment. “A person is considered poor if they
are deprived in at least 30 percent of the weighted indicators,” the study
states.

As measured by the new index, half of the world’s poor are in South Asia (51
percent or 844 million people) and one quarter in Africa (28 per cent or 458
million). While poverty in Africa is often highlighted, the Oxford research
found that there was more acute poverty in India than many African countries
combined. Poverty in eight Indian states—Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand,
Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal—exceeded
that of the 26 poorest African countries.

The study examined poverty across 28 Indian states, concluding that “81
percent of people are multidimensionally poor in Bihar—more than any other
state. Also, poverty in Bihar and Jharkand is most intense—poor people are
deprived in 60 percent of the MPI’s weighted indicators. Uttar Pradesh is
the home of largest number of poor people—21 percent of India’s poor people
live there. West Bengal is home to the third largest number of poor people.”

The last figure is particularly significant as West Bengal has been ruled
since 1977 by a Left Front coalition government led by the Communist Party
of India-Marxist (CPM). Far from being “socialist” or “Marxist”, the
Stalinist CPM has been responsible for implementing the pro-market agenda of
economic restructuring carried out in other states and nationally by openly
bourgeois parties. The result has been a decline in living standards for the
majority and a deepening divide between rich and poor.

The Oxford University research also exposed high levels of poverty among
India’s oppressed castes and tribal peoples. The poverty level among India’s
so-called Scheduled Tribes is 81.4 percent. “The intensity of poverty is
also very high among Scheduled Tribes, who are deprived in 59.2 percent of
weighted indicators on average,” the study stated. The MPI for Scheduled
Castes was 65.8 percent and for Other Backward Castes (OBC) was 58.3
percent.

The figures expose the Congress-led government’s claim that India’s economic
growth has been “inclusive”. In fact, successive Indian governments led by
Congress and the Hindu supremacist Bharatiya Janatha Party (BJP) are
responsible for economic policies that have boosted the profits of big
business and the wealth of a tiny layer at the expense of the working class
and rural poor.

By focussing on a broader range of factors, the Oxford University study has
highlighted the continuing lack of basic facilities for the majority of the
Indian population. Governments at the national and state levels have failed
to provide even the most rudimentary assistance for hundreds of millions of
people. Moreover, existing public services have been further undermined by
the policies of privatisation and restructuring.

Only 31 percent of India’s population had access to improved sanitation in
2008. As a result of the lack of health care and food, 61 million children
in India are stunted, the largest figure for any country, according to a
UNICEF report. It also stated that the health of children suffers not just
due to poor hygienic conditions and lack of nutritional food but also
because mothers often suffer from anaemia and malnutrition during pregnancy.

Sharply rising food prices, including an average 83 percent increase since
2008, have been devastating for the country’s poor. Their situation has been
further aggravated by recent fuel price hikes announced by the Indian
government. The United Nations World Food Program (UNWFP) recently painted
an alarming picture, reporting that nearly 350 million people—roughly 35
percent of India’s population —was food insecure and consumed less than 80
percent of their total energy requirements.

More than 1.5 million children in India are estimated to suffer from
malnourishment and 43 percent of children under five years of age are
underweight, according to the latest UNWFP report. The proportion of anaemic
children has increased by six percent in the last six years, with 11 states
reporting 80 percent child anaemia rates.

Another study that used a household income of $US2 a day as the poverty
benchmark found that India not only has more poor people than sub-Saharan
Africa, but also has a higher level of poverty. In India, 75.6 percent of
the population, or 828 million people, live below the poverty line as
compared to 72.2 percent, or 551 million people in sub-Saharan Africa.

On the other end of the scale, the wealthy few in India have amassed great
riches. While impacted by the global financial crisis, the number of US
dollar billionaires in India on the Forbes list rebounded to 49 in 2010,
after falling to 24 last year. The figure falls just short of the record
high of 53 in 2008.

The Financial Express commented that year: “The wealth amassed by Indian
billionaires—estimated at 340.9 billion dollars by the US business magazine
Forbes—is nearly 31 percent of the country’s total GDP. This gives them
nearly three times more weight in the economy than their American
counterparts and over ten times of those in China. The GDP share of Indian
billionaires’ wealth is more than four times of the global average.”

The situation is similar this year. While 49 individuals preside over what
for most Indians is unimaginable wealth, the majority of people are
struggling to survive from day to day. In India’s financial capital of
Mumbai, more than six million desperately poor people, half of the city’s
population, eke out an existence in the slums. Mumbai’s gleaming skyscrapers
that symbolise India’s economic growth sit alongside makeshift hovels.

Like their counterparts around the world, India’s business elite likes to
justify their position in society on the basis of their own personal
initiative, acumen and drive. In reality, their wealth is the product of the
exploitation of the country’s huge reserves of cheap labour and depends on
the continued impoverishment of the rest of the population. This worsening
social divide will inevitably produce a rebellion against the appalling
conditions created by profit system and the ruling elites that defend and
benefit from it.
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Ours is a battle not for wealth or for power.
 It is a battle for freedom. It is a battle for the reclamation of human
personality."
- Dr BR Ambedkar
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

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