Home to more than 1 billion people, India has recently been one of the big players on the global stage, both economically and diplomatically. Sustainable development lowers poverty in India and has shown how this practice can help lower poverty on a global scale.

India’s rapid sustainable development has turned many heads over the last few years. Environmentally sound, sustainable infrastructure development projects can help spur the economy and lower poverty in many ways, and India has exemplified several of these.

1. Swachh Bharat Abhiyan

Claimed to be the “most significant cleanliness campaign by the Government of India, the Clean India Act, known more commonly as the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, is committed to reducing urban, suburban and rural waste to improve sanitation and overall cleanliness in the country.

Led by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, the campaign has made significant strides against poverty. Since its establishment in 2014, India has reduced sanitation-based flaws. Open defecation, which led to disease, has been replaced by plentiful access to toilets. The country’s 603,175 villages have been fully open defecation–free since 2019. 

India has significantly reduced waste as well. In just 10 days, the Clean India Drive managed to collect more than 3 million kilograms of waste. Clearing waste significantly improves sanitation and creates cleaner environments where businesses can attract more customers.

2. Solar Power

Solar power can create employment opportunities for skilled and unskilled workers in India, and efforts in the nation have expanded the scope to a more global stage.

Started in Gurugram, India, the International Solar Alliance is a global organization dedicated to deploying solar power throughout the globe. Running programs from agricultural solar applications to solar parks, the ISA has created improved energy access like never before.

Not only does solar power create job opportunities and improve energy access for the poor, but it also reduces overall costs for energy use. This reduces the strain on households and businesses, allowing them to use funds for other needs.

3. Water Conservation

Water conservation measures, such as the Jal Shakti Abhiyan (JSA), which encouraged citizens to “catch the rain,” have been essential players in the battle against poverty. The JSA has completed more than 500,000 works in water conservation and rainwater harvesting and has renovated more than 89,000 traditional water bodies. 

What such initiatives achieve is not limited to the environmental issues they immediately solve. The JSA and other such organizations have improved livelihoods by enhancing water management practices. By promoting asset creation and awareness in the most stressed districts of the country, the JSA’s efforts to improve irrigation have meant enhanced agricultural productivity for farmers.

However, the JSA has a long way to go to fully solve the issue of water conservation. One major criticism of the campaign is that such short-term efforts fail to address the root cause of India’s water problem: groundwater depletion. More than 80% of groundwater in India is over-exploited, and the JSA has made no focused effort to solve this long-term issue, which would help farmers efficiently irrigate crops, considerably benefiting the economy and alleviating the nation’s poverty.

India’s efforts to develop sustainability have not only helped India’s poor, but it has also set an example for other countries in the world to follow. India has a lot of work to do in regard to poverty, and other means of development besides those in this article, such as reforestation efforts, may help create even more job opportunities for the nation’s massive population. India’s strong efforts to lower poverty are, therefore, a good start to fighting poverty on the world stage.

– Advait K. Mishra
Photo: Flickr