UN lauds India for reducing multidimensional poverty

The United Nations has praised India for reducing multidimensional poverty in the country at the fastest rate in the world.

According to a UN report, 271 million people left poverty between 2005-06 and 2015-16.

"India experienced the fastest absolute reductions in the Multidimensional Poverty Index, which takes into account both incidence and intensity. 271 million people left poverty between 2005-06 and 2015-16, with the poorest regions, groups, and children, reducing poverty fastest as reported last year," said UN in its 2019 Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) report on Friday.

Apart from income level, the MPI assesses different factors including education, health and living standards

The organisation said that India has strongly improved nutrition, sanitation cooking fuel and assets.

The report covers 101 countries comprising 5.7 billion people.

The UN contended that poverty is complex. There is little or no correlation between economic inequality and poverty.

In South Asia, 22.7 per cent of children under the age of five experience intrahousehold inequality in nutrition - where at least one child in the household is malnourished but at least one child in the household is not, UN pointed out.