World Bank : According to the World Bank, the number of global poor increased by 7.1 crores in 2020, with India accounting for at least 33%. COVID-19, as well as surging relative increases in food and energy prices, have impacted every economy on the planet. However, the impact has not been consistent across countries. In fact, it has been a result of policy decisions made during the crisis.
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The pandemic exacerbated global inequality. The world’s poor paid the greatest price for the pandemic in terms of their lost cash flow: the percentage income damages of the poorest were estimated to be double those of the richest. During the pandemic, the global Gini coefficient increased by slightly more than 0.5 point, rising from 62 points in 2019 to an estimated 62.6 points in 2020.
India in Global Hunger Index has fallen behind Nepal & Pakistan, from rank 55 in 2014 to 101 in 2021.
UPA’s efforts to eliminate hunger, especially ‘Right to Food’ act, have been diluted and the poor have been left to fend for themselves. GOI needs to correct its failures soon. pic.twitter.com/cdlmb6Evz9
— Mallikarjun Kharge (@kharge) October 15, 2021
“The global goal of ending extreme poverty by 2030 is likely to be missed: approximately 600 million people will still be living in abject poverty by that time.” “A major course correction is required,” tweeted Indermit Gill, World Bank chief economist. In its latest “Poverty and Shared Prosperity” report, the World Bank updated poverty estimates by using a new extreme poverty line based on a purchasing power parity (PPP) of $2.15, up from $1.9.
According to poverty and shared property 2022, “The estimated increase in global poverty of 71 million people is heavily influenced by the most populous countries because each individual in the world is weighted equally. Although large, China is home to a small share of the global extreme poor and had a moderate economic shock in 2020; as a result, China does not contribute much to the global increase in extreme poverty
in 2020. The global and regional poverty estimates presented in this report include ne data for India for 2015–19 (see box O.2). This represents an improvement over the previous edition of this report, in which the absence of recent data for India severely limited the measurement of poverty in South Asia. In 2020, India experienced a pronounced economic contraction. Because 2020 poverty estimates from household survey data for India are still being finalized, there is considerable uncertainty over the estimates of poverty increases in India in 2020. ”
Today the @WorldBank published its latest Poverty and Shared Prosperity Report. The global goal of ending extreme poverty by 2030 is likely to be missed: by then, about 600 million people will remain in abject poverty. A major course correction is needed. https://t.co/bWuG6FAfv5
— Indermit Gill (@IndermitGill) October 5, 2022
This high proportion of the global poor in India is unsurprising given the country’s large population, but it is worth noting that the only country with a larger population than India, China, has made only a minor contribution to the rise in global poverty.
According to the study, the pandemic increased the global rate of extreme poverty from 8.4% in 2019 to 9.3% in 2020.
According to a previous World Bank forecast, 10.4% of India’s population would live below the $1.90 poverty line in 2017. According to the most recent estimates, 13.6% of people were poor in 2017.
The poverty and shared property 2022 further stated that “The share of the global poor who live in the East Asia and Pacific region is also significant at the US$6.85 poverty line (19 percent in 2019). A large number of the global poor at these higher lines live in India (where 595 million people live on less than US$3.65 a day) and China (where 348 million people live on less than US$6.85 a day).
On the other hand, according to Mahesh Vyas, CEO of the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy, the second wave of coronavirus has resulted in the loss of over 10 million jobs, or one crore people. He also stated that 97% of household incomes have decreased since the pandemic began last year.
Under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana, India launched a free food grain programme to provide food security to the poor. The World Bank suggested fiscal policy measures to repair the damage, saying programmes like aimed cash transfers were far more likely to reach poor and vulnerable groups.
What are the suggestions ?
1.National policy changes can help relaunch progress toward poverty reduction.
2. Increased global cooperation will also be required.
3.Governments should act quickly on fiscal policy, Today, high-return assets in education, research and development, and infrastructure investments are required.
In a time of limited resources, more efficient spending and better preparedness for the next crisis will be critical.
