COMMONWEALTH ASSOCATION FOR EDUCATION,
ADMINISTRATION AND MANAGEMENT
ISSN NO 2322-0147
VOLUME 2 ISSUE 5
MAY 2014
Effects of Poverty in Achieving Millennium
Development Goals 2015 in India
INDEXED WITH PARIS, DAIS.NET, DRJI, WORLDCAT, EBSCO-USA, J-GATE
(EDITOR-IN-CHIEF)
DR MUJIBUL HASAN SIDDIQUI
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION,
ALIGARH MUSLIM UNIVERSITY,
ALIGARH-202002,
UTTAR PRADESH,
INDIA
website: www.ocwjournalonline.com
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Effects of Poverty in Achieving Millennium Development Goals 2015
in India
Dr. Mohd Ashraf Ali
Associate Professor
Department of Commerce
AMU Aligarh
Email Id: [email protected]
Mushtaq Ahmad
Research Scholar
Department of Commerce
AMU Aligarh
Email Id: [email protected]
Sarfaraz Javed
Research Scholar
Department of Commerce
AMU Aligarh
Email Id: [email protected]
Abstract
With the current economic situation of India, it will achieve some of the eight Millennium
Development Goals, but will miss many of the others. The good news is that India is trying
best with regard to the first of the Millennium Development Goals: reducing extreme
poverty. All indicators suggest rapid progress, enough on the current trajectory so that the
headcount poverty rate in 2015 will be less than half of the rate in 1990, as called for by
the Millennium Development Goals. While poverty has been a key concern of national
governments for decades, there are now, for the first time, global frameworks for poverty
reduction, to which governments and international agencies are largely committed. The
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) alongside a number of important rights charters
have increased the visibility of the poor. Their wellbeing is increasingly a matter of global
concern. At the same time, India is likely to miss several of the other goals, related to
hunger, IMR, under-5, and MMR, disease, and the physical environment. The percentage of
children in India who are chronically undernourished remains very high. The target for the
environmental sustainability is not being achieved, as parts of India are suffering from
worsening crises of water, soils, and deforestation. What India requires on its part is a
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significant increase of targeted investments in clinics, schools, nutrition programs, disease
control, irrigation, rural electrification, rural roads, and other basic investments,
especially in rural India. With budget allocation for higher public investments in these
areas need to be accompanied by systemic reforms and proper planning in alleviating
poverty and in achieving Millennium Development Goals 2015 effectively and efficiently.
Additionally, India should “plan for success.” The Planning Commission should ensure that
current programs as well as the 12th Five-Year Plan are built around achieving the
Millennium Development Goals. Indeed, not only the Union Government, but every state
and even every district, should base their investment programs around achieving the
Millennium Development Goals. . This paper will mainly focus on how poverty and
unemployment became as a hindrance towards achieving MDG 2015. The paper will go
through various government documents, reports of the national and international
agencies, and also secondary sources will be applied for analytical study.
Keywords: Millennium Development Goal, Poverty, Environmental Sustainability
Introduction
Poverty in its various forms has increasingly occupied the attention of the international
community during the last decade. Successive Summits have made commitments to
drastically reduce the misery from which so many humans suffer throughout their lives.
Such attention is in itself an encouraging step forward, but actual progress is still
painfully slow, even though measures to improve the livelihoods of the poor are
affordable. Hunger and food insecurity - the most serious forms of extreme poverty have now become international priorities, and participants in the 1996 World Food
Summit made a solemn commitment to halve hunger in the world by 2015.
The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are eight international development goals
that were officially established following the Millennium Summit of the United Nations
in 2000, following the adoption of the United Nations Millennium Declaration. All 193
United Nations member states and at least 23 international organizations have agreed
to achieve these goals by the year 2015. The goals are:
1.
Eradicating extreme poverty and hunger,
2.
Achieving universal primary education,
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3.
Promoting gender equality and empowering women,
4.
Reducing child mortality rates,
5.
Improving maternal health,
6.
Combating HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases,
7.
Ensuring environmental sustainability, and
8.
Developing a global partnership for development.
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The aim of the MDGs is to encourage development by improving social and
economic conditions in the world's poorest countries. They derive from earlier
international development targets, and were officially established following the
Millennium Summit in 2000, where all world leaders in attendance adopted the United
Nations Millennium Declaration. The MDG focus on three major areas: of valorizing
human capital, improving infrastructure, and increasing social, economic and political
rights, with the majority of the focus going towards increasing basic standards of living.
The objectives chosen within the human capital focus include improving nutrition,
healthcare (including reducing levels of child mortality, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and
malaria, and increasing reproductive health), and education. For the infrastructure
focus, the objectives include improving infrastructure through increasing access to safe
drinking
water,
energy
and
modern
information/communication
technology;
amplifying farm outputs through sustainable practices; improving transportation
infrastructure; and preserving the environment. Lastly, for the social, economic and
political rights focus, the objectives include empowering women, reducing violence,
increasing political voice, ensuring equal access to public services, and increasing
security of property rights. The goals chosen were intended to increase an individual’s
human capabilities and "advance the means to a productive life”. The MDGs emphasize
that individual policies needed to achieve these goals should be tailored to individual
country’s needs; therefore most policy suggestions are general.
The MDGs also emphasize the role of developed countries in aiding developing
countries, as outlined in Goal Eight. Goal Eight sets objectives and targets for developed
countries to achieve a "global partnership for development" by supporting fair trade,
debt relief for developing nations, increasing aid and access to affordable essential
medicines, and encouraging technology transfer. Thus developing nations are not seen
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as left to achieve the MDGs on their own, but as a partner in the developing-developed
compact to reduce world poverty.
Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger

Target 1A: Halve the proportion of people living on less than $1 a day

Proportion of population below $1 per day (PPP values)

Poverty gap ratio [incidence x depth of poverty]

Share of poorest quintile in national consumption

Target 1B: Achieve Decent Employment for Women, Men, and Young People

GDP Growth per Employed Person

Employment Rate

Proportion of employed population below $1 per day (PPP values)

Proportion of family-based workers in employed population

Target 1C: Halve the proportion of people who suffer from hunger

Prevalence of underweight children under five years of age

Proportion of population below minimum level of dietary energy consumption
Goal 2: Achieve Universal Primary Education

Target 2A: By 2015, all children can complete a full course of primary schooling,
girls and boys

Enrollment in primary education

Completion of primary education
Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women

Target 3A: Eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education
preferably by 2005, and at all levels by 2015

Ratios of girls to boys in primary, secondary and tertiary education

Share of women in wage employment in the non-agricultural sector

Proportion of seats held by women in national parliament

For girls in some regions, education remains elusive

Poverty is a major barrier to education, especially among older girls

In every developing region except the CIS, men outnumber women in paid
employment
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
Women are largely relegated to more vulnerable forms of employment

Women are over-represented in informal employment, with its lack of
benefits
and security

Top-level jobs still go to men — to an overwhelming degree

Women are slowly rising to political power, but mainly when boosted by
quotas and other special measures
Goal 4: Reduce child mortality rates

Target 4A: Reduce by two-thirds, between 1990 and 2015, the under-five
mortality rate

Under-five mortality rate

Infant (under 1) mortality rate

Proportion of 1-year-old children immunized against measles
Goal 5: Improve maternal health

Target 5A: Reduce by three quarters, between 1990 and 2015, the maternal
mortality ratio

Maternal mortality ratio

Proportion of births attended by skilled health personnel

Target 5B: Achieve, by 2015, universal access to reproductive health

Contraceptive prevalence rate

Adolescent birth rate

Antenatal care coverage

Unmet need for family planning
Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases

Target 6A: Have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS

HIV prevalence among population aged 15–24 years

Condom use at last high-risk sex

Proportion of population aged 15–24 years with comprehensive correct
knowledge of HIV/AIDS
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Target 6B: Achieve, by 2010, universal access to treatment for HIV/AIDS for all

those who need it
Proportion of population with advanced HIV infection with access to

antiretroviral drugs
Target 6C: Have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the incidence of malaria

and
other major diseases

Prevalence and death rates associated with malaria

Proportion of children under 5 sleeping under insecticide-treated bednets

Proportion of children under 5 with fever who are treated with appropriate antimalarial drugs

Incidence, prevalence and death rates associated with tuberculosis

Proportion of tuberculosis cases detected and cured under DOTS (Directly
Observed Treatment Short Course)
Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability

Target 7A: Integrate the principles of sustainable development into country
policies and programs; reverse loss of environmental resources

Target 7B: Reduce biodiversity loss, achieving, by 2010, a significant reduction in
the rate of loss

Proportion of land area covered by forest

CO2 emissions, total, per capita and per $1 GDP (PPP)

Consumption of ozone-depleting substances

Proportion of fish stocks within safe biological limits

Proportion of total water resources used

Proportion of terrestrial and marine areas protected

Proportion of species threatened with extinction

Target 7C: Halve, by 2015, the proportion of the population without sustainable
access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation (for more information see the
entry on water supply)

Proportion of population with sustainable access to an improved water source,
urban and rural

Proportion of urban population with access to improved sanitation
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Target 7D: By 2020, to have achieved a significant improvement in the lives of at
least 100 million slum-dwellers

Proportion of urban population living in slums
Goal 8: Develop a global partnership for development

Target 8A: Develop further an open, rule-based, predictable, non-discriminatory
trading and financial system

Includes a commitment to good governance, development, and poverty reduction
– both nationally and internationally

Target 8B: Address the Special Needs of the Least Developed Countries (LDCs)

Includes: tariff and quota free access for LDC exports; enhanced programme of
debt relief for HIPC and cancellation of official bilateral debt; and more generous ODA
(Official Development Assistance) for countries committed to poverty reduction

Target 8C: Address the special needs of landlocked developing countries and
small island developing States

Through the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small
Island Developing States and the outcome of the twenty-second special session of the
General Assembly

Target 8D: Deal comprehensively with the debt problems of developing
countries through national and international measures in order to make debt
sustainable in the long term

Some of the indicators listed below are monitored separately for the least
developed countries (LDCs), Africa, landlocked developing countries and small island
developing States.

Official development assistance (ODA):

Net ODA, total and to LDCs, as percentage of OECD/DAC donors’ GNI

Proportion of total sector-allocable ODA of OECD/DAC donors to basic social
services (basic education, primary health care, nutrition, safe water and sanitation)

Proportion of bilateral ODA of OECD/DAC donors that is untied

ODA received in landlocked countries as proportion of their GNIs

ODA received in small island developing States as proportion of their GNIs

Market access:
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Proportion of total developed country imports (by value and excluding arms)
from developing countries and from LDCs, admitted free of duty

Average tariffs imposed by developed countries on agricultural products and
textiles and clothing from developing countries

Agricultural support estimate for OECD countries as percentage of their GDP

Proportion of ODA provided to help build trade capacity

Debt sustainability:

Total number of countries that have reached their HIPC decision points and
number that have reached their HIPC completion points (cumulative)

Debt relief committed under HIPC initiative, US$

Debt service as a percentage of exports of goods and services

Target 8E: In co-operation with pharmaceutical companies, provide access to
affordable, essential drugs in developing countries

Proportion of population with access to affordable essential drugs on a
sustainable basis

Target 8F: In co-operation with the private sector, make available the benefits of
new technologies, especially information and communications

Telephone lines and cellular subscribers per 100 population

Personal computers in use per 100 population

Internet users per 100 Population
ECONOMIC GROWTH, INEQUALITY AND POVERTY REDUCTION
By now, it is widely acknowledged that both economic growth and inequality play a
major role in generating changes in poverty. Indeed, there is little controversy that
growth is essential for poverty reduction (assuming that the distribution of income
remains more or less constant) and much evidence points in this direction. Increasingly,
it is being recognized that distribution matters for poverty reduction and over the
medium term, distributional changes may be responsible for sizeable changes in
poverty. Thus, it is important to consider both growth and income distribution
simultaneously when looking at the impact on poverty reduction. In summary, it is
important to consider both growth and income (wealth) distribution simultaneously
and to recognize that distribution matters as much as growth for poverty reduction.
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However, the impact of these phenomena depends on the initial level of income and
inequality and the relative effects of both phenomena may differ quite significantly
across countries. Thus, optimal growth-distribution strategies aiming at poverty
reduction in a given time period should differ depending on initial conditions. Since the
appropriateness of the poverty lines in use so far for poverty estimation was questioned
in some quarters, the Government appointed an Expert Committee under the
Chairmanship of late Prof. Suresh Tendulkar. As per the revised methodology adopted
by Planning Commission, on the basis of recommendations of Tendulkar Committee, the
poverty line provides a higher estimate of rural poverty and therefore also of total
poverty. With the new method applied to the earlier years, it shows that the percentage
of the population in poverty declined from 45 per cent in 1993-94 to 37 per cent in
2004-05. Thus, poverty declined at roughly 0.8 percentage points per year during the 11
year period before the Eleventh Plan. Preliminary estimates using the latest NSS survey
for 2009-10 suggest that the percentage of the population in poverty declined, at a
faster pace than before, by approximately one percentage point per annum, during the
five-year period 2004-05 to 2009-10. Since 2009-10 was a drought year, and poverty in
that year could have increased temporarily, the underlying rate of decline is probably
more than one percentage point per year. It is also possible that the pace of poverty
reduction accelerated in the last two years of the Eleventh Plan period, since by then
several Eleventh Plan programmes aimed at increasing inclusiveness would have begun
to have a fuller impact.
Nation’s Commitments to Fight against Poverty
Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA)
It was enacted on 5th September, 2005 and came into force w.e.f. 2nd February, 2006.
On 31st December, 2009, the Act was renamed by an Amendment as the Mahatma
Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005. The scheme provides a legal
guarantee for one hundred days of employment in every financial year to adult
members of any rural household willing to do public work-related unskilled manual
work at the statutory minimum wage. Thus the Act aims at enhancing the livelihood
security of people in rural areas.
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SWARNJAYANTI GRAM SWAROZGAR YOJANA (SGSY) / National Rural Livelihood
Mission (NRLM)
The mandate of the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD), is rural poverty alleviation
through programmes directly targeted at the rural poor households. Within the directly
targeted category, there are programmes focused on wage employment and
programmes focused on self-employment. The Swarnajayanti Grameen Swarojgar
Yojana (SGSY) is the Ministry programme which focuses on self-employment. This
programme was launched in the year 1999, by restructuring the Integrated Rural
Development Programme (IRDP). The cornerstone of the SGSY strategy was that the
poor need to be organized and their capacities built up systematically so that they can
access self-employment opportunities. In the 10 years of implementing SGSY, there has
developed a widespread acceptance in the country of the need for poor to be organized
into SHGs as a pre-requisite for their poverty reduction. Comprehensive reviews of
SGSY have brought into focus several shortcomings like vast regional variations in
mobilization of rural poor; insufficient capacity building of beneficiaries; insufficient
investments for building community institutions; and weak linkages with banks leading
to low credit mobilization and repeat financing. Several states have not been able to
fully utilize the funds received under SGSY due to lack of dedicated human resources
and appropriate delivery systems. In the absence of aggregate institutions of the poor,
such as the SHG federations, the poor households could not access higher order support
services for productivity enhancement, marketing linkage, risk management, etc. SGSY
has been found to be more successful wherever systematic mobilization of the poor into
SHGs and their capacity building and skill development has been taken up in a
systematic manner. In other places, the impact has not been significant. The NRLM
Mission is to reduce poverty by enabling the poor households to access gainful selfemployment and skilled wage employment opportunities resulting in appreciable
improvement in their livelihoods on a sustainable basis, through building strong and
sustainable grassroots institutions of the poor.
Indira Awas Yojana (IAY)
Indira Awaas Yojana (IAY) is a flagship scheme of the Ministry of Rural Development to
provide financial assistance to the BPL households in rural areas for construction of a
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dwelling unit. The genesis of IAY can be traced to the programmes of rural employment
which began in early 1980s. Construction of houses was one of the major activities
under the National Rural Employment Programme (NREP) in 1980 and Rural Landless
Employment Guarantee Programme (RLEGP) in 1983. IAY was launched as a subscheme of RLEGP and thereafter it continued as a sub-scheme of JRY in 1989. On 1st
January 1996, it became an independent scheme. The objective of the scheme is to
primarily help the weaker sections in rural areas who belong to Below Poverty Line
(BPL) category by granting financial assistance for construction of a pucca house. The
funding of the IAY is shared between the Centre and State, in the ratio of 75:25 and in
the case of UTs, 100% funding is done by the Government of India. Moreover, in the case
of NE States, the funding is shared in the ratio of 90:10. The unit assistance for an IAY
house is Rs.45,000/- per house for plain areas and Rs. 48,500/- for hilly areas w.e.f.
01/04/2010. Rs. 15,000/- is provided for upgradation of the house. In addition to the
financial assistance under IAY, an IAY beneficiary can borrow up to Rs. 20, 000/- from
any Nationalized Bank at 4% interest per annum to top up the IAY unit assistance under
Differential Rate of Interest (DRI) Scheme. For those rural BPL Householders who don’t
have house sites, from the year 2009-10, provision has been made to provide housesites as part of Indira Awaas Yojana. This funding is to be shared between Centre and
States in the ratio of 50:50.
Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM)
The JNNURM aims to encourage cities to initiate steps to bring about improvement in
the existing service levels in a financially sustainable manner. The JNNURM consists of
two sub missions: The Urban infrastructure and Governance and the basic services to
the urban poor. One of the objectives of the JNNURM is to ensure that the following are
achieved in the urban sector Provision of basic services to the urban poor including
security of tenure at affordable prices, improved housing, water supply and sanitation,
and ensuring delivery of other existing universal services of the government for
education, health and social security.
Conclusion
On its current economic trajectory, India will achieve some of the eight Millennium
Development Goals, but will miss many of the others. The good news is that India is
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making great strides with regard to the first of the Millennium Development Goals:
reducing extreme poverty. With India’s GNP increasing at between 6 and 8 percentage
points per year, the proportion of the Indian population living in extreme poverty has
been falling sharply since economic reforms began in 1991. Even though there is an
active debate about the “exact” measure of extreme poverty, all indicators suggest rapid
progress, enough on the current trajectory so that the headcount poverty rate in 2015
will be less than half of the rate in 1990, as called for by the Millennium Development
Goals.
References
1.
MDG India 2011,
2.
MDG India 2012,
3.
India Budget: http://www.indiabudget.nic.in/
4.
Planning Commission: http://www.delhiplanning.nic.in/
5.
Planning Commission, Government of India, March 2012. National Human
Development
6.
Economic Survey 2010-2011 Report,
7.
Government of India. “Economic Survey 2012-2013,” Ministry of Finance.
8.
Government of India, “National Family Health Survey (NFHS Volume I & II.”
9.
United Nations Millennium Development Goals"
10.
"The Making of the Millennium Development Goals". Brooks World Poverty
Institute.
11.
kotharionindia.blogspot.com,
12.
Sundaram, K. and Suresh Tendulkar, , “Poverty in India in the 1990s”, 2003b
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