While the Economic Survey 2022–23 praises India’s efforts to lift 41.5 crore people out of poverty between 2005–06 and 2019–21, and the Global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MDPI) — adopted by NITI Aayog too — also indicates a reduction in poverty levels, the reality is that India still has the largest number of poor people in the world at 22.8 crore.
In the Global MDPI Index 2020, India ranked 62 out of 107 countries. South Asian neighbours such as Sri Lanka (25), Bangladesh (58), China (30), and even emerging economies like South Africa (42) and Brazil (33) are far better placed. Further, in the latest MDPI report of 2022 (where no ranks were published), India has the largest number of poor in the world, amounting to 228.9 million. Why are others doing better than us when our economic growth in GDP terms beats them all? Because MDPI considers not only economic well-being but also factors such as health, education and living standards to determine the level of deprivation.
The Economic Survey 2022–23 says the cost of healthcare in India is a major driver of poverty. Out-of-pocket health expenditures account for 48.2% of total health expenditures. As per the Rural Health Statistics Report 2021–22, there is a shortage of more than 80% of the required surgeons and paediatricians in the 6,064 community health centres nationwide. A similar shortage exists in tertiary healthcare institutions, including the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).
Despite this, healthcare spending is falling, with an 11.6% drop in budget estimates (BE) of 2023–24 compared to the revised estimates (RE) of 2022–23. Even though the National Health Policy aims to increase the allocation to 2.5% of GDP by 2025, the current allocation is only 1.98% compared to 2.1% in the last fiscal year. G20 economies such as the United Kingdom and Australia spend 9%, Japan 10%, and the United States 16%.
Despite the government claiming in Parliament in 2019 that owing to the success of Poshan Abhiyan, India will be malnutrition-free by 2022, the number of anaemic children under five years rose from 58.6% to 67.1%, as per the National Family Health Survey-5 (NFHS-5) (2019–21), which means two out of every three children continue to be anaemic.
Similarly, the percentage of malnourished children has increased from 2.1% to 3.4%. On top of this, the food subsidy in BE 2023–24 has been reduced by 32% as compared to RE 2022–23, and the total allocation of Poshan 2.0 is ₹701 crore less than the allotments of the sub-schemes three years ago.
Even after 15.14% of the population being deprived of years of schooling, with at least one person in the household not having completed five years of schooling, and 7.39% of the population being deprived of regular attendance in schools between Class 1 to 8 as per the MDPI 2022, the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan saw only a nominal increase of 0.18% in BE 2023–24 over BE 2022–23.
Also, according to the 328th Standing Committee Report on Learning Gaps, only 11.58% of schools have internet access. The Economic Survey 2022–23 also revealed a mere 20% increase in computer access over 2012–2021. What good is a National Digital Library, as proposed in Budget 2023–24, if there is poor digital connectivity?
When the government took office in 2014, it promised to increase public education spending to 6% of GDP, a promise that was later reaffirmed in the New Education Policy 2020. However, the share has remained stagnant at 2.9% of GDP in Budget 2023–24.
The Standard of Living, or Quality of Life, is the third component of this index and comprises eight sub-indicators, out of which three hold pride of place.
Cooking fuel: While more than 9.58 crore gas connections have been released under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) scheme as of February 2 as per data from the official PMUY dashboard, 9.6% of beneficiaries took no cooking gas refills, 11.3% took only one refill and 56.5% took four or fewer refills in 2021–22 according to a response given in the Rajya Sabha.
Sanitation and drinking water: According to NFHS-5, 19% households do not have access to toilets despite the government declaring India open defecation-free in October 2019.
Though the Jal Jeevan Mission aimed to provide functional household tap connections by 2024, 38% of the households surveyed in the Functionality Assessment of Household Tap Connections Report 2022 did not have overall functionality.
Housing: The Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Gramin (PMAY-G), launched in 2016 to provide pucca houses to everyone by 2022, has now been extended to 2024 with no clarity on the total number of houses to be provided, how many have been provided so far, and how long will it take to achieve the goal. While the government revised this target to 2.95 crore in 2022, there is no clarity if this is all that is left to be covered. The claim of a 65% increase from BE 2022–23 to BE 2023–24 is less impressive than it sounds, particularly because the actual allocation is 13% less than what was spent in 2021–22. Further, as per the Economic Survey 2023, up to 80 lakh houses are yet to be completed.
The true “Vision for Amrit Kaal” with an “empowered and inclusive economy” can only be achieved by reducing multidimensional poverty rather than increasing GDP growth. This would require increased budgetary allocations to health and education.
Dr Amar Patnaik
Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha, and an advocate
(Views are personal)