India has had a paradoxical relationship with development and poverty. While India has succeeded in achieving infrastructural and cultural developments, poverty is the one area where the South Asian giant has struggled. However, with some carefully planned developmental projects, India recently managed to lift 135 million people out of multidimensional poverty from 2015-2021. What is remarkable is that India achieved its goals before the 2030 deadline. Below are five schemes that helped India combat multidimensional poverty.
5 Schemes That Helped Tackle Multidimensional Poverty in India
- Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) – Launched in 2014, the SBM focuses on hygiene and sanitation, aiming to eliminate open defecation, enhance waste management and create a cleaner environment for better public health. As part of this initiative, over 100 million households in rural areas and 6 million households in urban areas have successfully built toilets. Moreover, there have been over 6 million community and public toilets constructed in urban regions. As a result, 4,234 cities and over 600,000 villages have proudly declared themselves as open defecation-free (ODF).
- Jal Jeevan Mission – Launched in 2019, this relatively new project aims to provide clean drinking water to rural households, focusing on sustainable water management, infrastructure development and community involvement for equitable access. As of 2023, 129,552,488 rural households have received a Functional Tap Connection (FHTC) thereby eliminating the risk of 136,000 children perishing because of unsanitary potable water.
- Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) – The PMJDY, launched in 2014, aims to promote financial inclusion by providing affordable banking services, insurance and direct benefit transfers to households, empowering marginalized communities economically. Under this scheme, 15 million bank accounts were opened on its Inauguration Day and 18,096,130 bank accounts were registered in a single week, which earned the Government of India a place in the Guinness Book of World Records. As of 2023, there are 334 million beneficiaries in rural/semi-urban India, 166 million beneficiaries in urban India and 278 million female beneficiaries in both rural and urban India.
- Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) – Launched in 2015, the PMAY is an initiative aiming to provide affordable housing to all by 2022. The program offers financial aid and incentives to promote homeownership, contributing to improved living standards and inclusive growth. Under this scheme, the government promised the beneficiaries (citizens over the age of 70) an interest subsidy of 6.5% for EWS (Economic Weak Section) and LIG (Lower Income Group), 4% for MIG-1 (Middle Income Group) and 3% for MIG-II on housing loans over a 20 year period under the credit link subsidy scheme (CLSS) from the start of the loan. The government has invested $5.5 billion for the construction of 6,83,724 houses for urban poor including a central assistance commitment of $1.3 billion, with a focus on encouraging women to take ownership of these houses.
- Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) – Introduced in 2016, the PMUY, is dedicated to providing clean cooking fuel to women in rural and Below Poverty Line (BPL) households. By distributing LPG connections and promoting the use of cleaner fuels and empowering women with improved energy access and safety. The government has invested $1 billion into this mission and far exceeded its annual target of 15 million distributions in its first year itself with an impressive 22 million distributions. By 2019, the PMUY had aided 80 million beneficiaries. Concurrently, The National Family Health Surveys noticed a significant annual growth in access to cleaner fuel by almost seven times, from 0.8% in rural areas before 2015 to 5.6% the following year.
The Future
Both the Indian government and its citizens will agree that the mission is far from over. The Government of India has already initiated the second phase of most of these schemes. For example, As of 2023, the PMUY 2.0 and Swachh Bharat Mission 2.0 have been launched. Additionally, the government should continue to foster the following characteristics of the aforementioned schemes:
- Implement awareness campaigns that encourage behavioral changes, such as adopting hygiene practices or using clean energy sources, to improve overall living conditions.
- Promote inclusive economic growth that benefits all segments of society with a particular focus on women’s empowerment.
- Continuously evaluate the impact of initiatives, gather feedback from beneficiaries and be willing to adapt strategies based on lessons learned.
- Adopt a long-term perspective, recognizing that addressing multidimensional poverty requires sustained efforts over time. Continuity and consistency are key to achieving lasting impact.
India is boldly tackling the complex challenge of multidimensional poverty head-on. With a multifaceted approach, the nation is striving to uplift its most vulnerable populations. Through targeted policies, innovative initiatives and collaborative efforts, India aims to break the cycle of poverty across various dimensions. By recognizing that poverty is not limited to monetary constraints, the country is demonstrating a commitment to fostering holistic well-being and sustainable development for all its citizens, setting a promising example for the global fight against multidimensional poverty.
– Piyush Plabon Das
Photo: Flickr