Poverty

Pakistan faces 44.7% poverty while neighbours progress, reveals World Bank

Neighbouring countries like China, Bangladesh, and Nepal have managed to make meaningful progress in poverty alleviation through targeted strategies, industrial growth, and social reforms

Gaps in data gathering understate actual levels of inequality in India

According to the Household Consumption Expenditure Survey (HCES) 2022-23, inequality in consumption did decline

Bringing investment to rural sector key priority: IFAD president

Bringing investment to the rural sector is a key priority for the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), President Alvaro Lario said, adding that investment in agriculture is two to three times more effective in reducing poverty than in any other sector. In an interview with PTI, Lario stressed on the importance of bringing private capital to the rural sector, and said that globally, investments worth around USD 75 billion is required to adapt to the impact of climate change. Founded in 1977 in response to a global food crisis, IFAD is a specialised United Nations agency and an international financial institution that tackles hunger and poverty in rural communities. "IFAD's priority is to mobilize financing, especially long-term financing for rural areas and especially to have and deliver a long-lasting impact for those who need it most," Lario told PTI. "So for us, finance is a means to an end and we know that investment in agriculture is two to three times more .

Karnataka transporters strike over late dues; Anna Bhagya food supply hit

Transporters halt foodgrain movement across Karnataka over unpaid dues spanning six months; halting delivery of govt food scheme

Govt policies aimed at reducing poverty, creating jobs, says Gadkari

Union minister Nitin Gadkari on Saturday said his government's policies were aimed at reducing poverty and creating jobs, as he cautioned against economic liberalisation that could lead to concentration of wealth in the hands of a few. "Our objective is to create an economic option that will eliminate poverty, create jobs for youth and lead to creation of wealth," he said in his address at the National Conference of CA Students-2025 and added we need such an economic option. He said previous governments under P V Narasimha Rao and Manmohan Singh adopted an economic liberalisation framework. "But with economic liberalisation, we should also make sure that there is no centralisation of the economy. It should not be that the number of poor is slowly increasing while wealth is getting centralised in the hands of a few," the minister cautioned. "There has been a sea change in the economic landscape (in the last decade) and your role is crucial in this change," the minister said. At the

BPL families in 10K villages being linked to govt schemes: Rajasthan CM

Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma said Saturday that 'BPL' families in 10,000 villages are being linked to government schemes, which will bring positive change in the lives of the poor and deprived. Addressing a programme in Padru village of Balotra, Sharma said every social evil can be eradicated through education. The government is making efforts at various levels for the education of boys and girls, he said. Under the Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya Garibi Mukt Gaon Yojana, Below Poverty Level families in 10,000 villages are being surveyed and government schemes are being extended to them. Sikkim Governor Om Prakash Mathur was also present at the event. Sharma also addressed a public meeting organised under Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Antyodaya Sambal Pakhwada in Jodhpur district on Saturday evening. "Our effort is that no person or family should be deprived of the benefits of government schemes," he said at the meeting. Union Tourism and Culture Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat also

Aligning RE with development goals can lift 193 mn from poverty: UNDP study

A new study by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has revealed that aligning renewable energy goals with broader development policies could lift 193 million people out of extreme poverty by 2060, while unlocking USD 20.4 trillion in cumulative savings for the global economy. The study, conducted by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), University of Denver's Pardee Institute and Octopus Energy, was set up to explore how time-bound renewable energy targets, backed by coherent policies and financing mechanisms, could unlock triple wins: cutting emissions, boosting economies and delivering real social benefits. The report simulated three scenarios to assess outcomes for emissions, economic growth, and social progress. In a business-as-usual scenario, the global energy system remains dependent on fossil fuels, accounting for over 50 per cent of primary energy by 2060. This trajectory would push global warming to 2.6C, exacerbating poverty, malnutrition and lack

Nations meet in Spain to seek trillions to combat poverty, US to skip event

Many of the world's nations are gathering starting Monday in Spain for a high-level conference to tackle the growing gap between rich and poor nations and try to drum up trillions of dollars needed to close it. The United States, previously a major contributor, pulled its participation, so finding funding will be tough. The four-day Financing for Development meeting in the southern city of Seville is taking place as many countries face escalating debt burdens, declining investments, decreasing international aid and increasing trade barriers. The United Nations and Spain, the conference co-hosts, believe it is an opportunity to reverse the downward spiral, close the staggering USD 4 trillion annual financing gap to promote development, bring millions of people out of poverty and help achieve the UN's wide-ranging and badly lagging Sustainable Development Goals for 2030. UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed said Wednesday that despite the headwinds and high geopolitical tension

How Kerala is charting path to become 1st extreme-poverty-free Indian state

State on track to becoming the first in India to achieve the goal through local-level surveys, community and tailored micro plans

Progress on poverty tracking: India needs fresh official estimates

The number of people living in extreme poverty, under the $3 a day line, is now only 5.3 per cent of the population, compared to 27.1 per cent in 2011-12

India's war on poverty: 171 million people rise above extreme deprivation

India's fight against poverty sees 171 million people lifted from extreme deprivation; MPI drops from 53.8% to 16.4%, reflecting a decade of transformative change across rural and urban areas

India pulls 269 million out of extreme poverty in 11 years: World Bank

From 344 million to 75 million, World Bank says India's extreme poor shrank sharply over 11 years

Bill Gates to donate $200 bn by 2045, says Musk 'killing' poorest kids

The 69-year-old billionaire co-founder of Microsoft said he was speeding up his plans to divest almost all of his fortune and would close the foundation on December 31, 2045

Cong slams govt over rising 'inequality', cites World Bank poverty report

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh alleged that while the Modi government is presenting the World Bank report as a success story, it raises serious concerns about persistent inequality

India lifted 171 mn people from extreme poverty between 2011-23: World Bank

India has lifted 171 million people from extreme poverty in the decade between 2011-12 and 2022-23, the World Bank said. "Over the past decade, India has significantly reduced poverty. Extreme poverty (living on less than USD 2.15 per day) fell from 16.2 per cent in 2011-12 to 2.3 per cent in 2022-23, lifting 171 million people above this line, the World Bank said in its Poverty & Equity Brief' on India. It added that rural extreme poverty dropped from 18.4 per cent to 2.8 per cent, and urban from 10.7 per cent to 1.1 per cent, narrowing the rural-urban gap from 7.7 to 1.7 percentage points a 16 per cent annual decline. The brief said that India also transitioned into the lower-middle-income category. Using the USD 3.65 per day LMIC poverty line, poverty fell from 61.8 per cent to 28.1 per cent, lifting 378 million people out of poverty. Rural poverty dropped from 69 per cent to 32.5 per cent, and urban poverty from 43.5 per cent to 17.2 per cent, reducing the rural-urban gap ...

India slashed extreme poverty to 2.3% in FY23, shows World Bank data

Using the $3.65 per day poverty line for lower- and middle-income countries (LMIC), poverty fell from 61.8 per cent to 28.1 per cent, lifting 378 million people out of poverty in India

UP to be prosperous in next 3 years by wiping out poverty: CM Adityanath

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday said Uttar Pradesh will emerge as a prosperous state in the next three years by eradicating poverty and his government will make the state's economy number one in the country. Addressing an event here, he attacked previous governments, saying they encouraged "one district, one mafia" while the BJP dispensation replaced it with "one district, one medical college". Adityanath thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah for the passage of the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025, in Parliament, claiming it would put a check on the "loot" being carried out in the name of the Waqf board. The Uttar Pradesh chief minister was in Maharajganj for the inauguration of the Rohin Barrage. He also laid the foundation stones of and inaugurated 629 developmental projects worth Rs 654 crore, according to the state government. "In the next three years, Uttar Pradesh will be established as a prosperous state by eradicating poverty. We will

Global economy growing but not fast enough to help ease poverty: World Bank

The global economy is growing steadily in the face of war, protectionist trade policies and high interest rates. It just isn't growing fast enough to bring relief to the world's poorest, the World Bank said Thursday in its latest assessment of the global economy. The bank expects the world economy to expand 2.7 per cent in 2025 and again in 2026. It's a remarkably consistent performance matching 2023 and 2024 but also a lackluster one. Growth is running 0.4 percentage points below the 2010-2019 average. The slump reflects lingering damage from the adverse shocks of recent years,' including COVID-19 and Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The bank's latest Global Economics Prospects report, which comes out in January and June, did offer some good news. Global inflation, which was running over 8 per cent two years ago, is expected to slow to an average of 2.7 per cent in 2025 and 2026, close to many central bank targets. The World Bank, comprising 189 member nations, seeks to reduce pover

The Great Indian Poverty Debate: Fresh estimates ignite new discussions

The decline in poverty at the national level, by 17.2 percentage points, however, would be considered very sharp during the period from 2011-12 to 2023-24

Make 2025 year of poverty-free villages, says Shivraj Singh Chouhan

Addressing a virtual review meeting with state rural development ministers, Chouhan said that few villages in every block could be identified for ideal implementation of all the schemes