New Delhi: A United Nations report has said about 30 crore people still live in extreme poverty in India even as the Millennium Development Goal (MGD) programme will expire in December.
The report — India and the MGDs: Completing the Task – said, “Still nearly 300 million people live in extreme poverty in India and face deprivation in terms of access to basic services, including education, health, water, sanitation and electricity.” India, which has a population of over 125 crore, adopted the United Nation’s MGD in 2000 with an aim to free millions from extreme poverty and hunger, illiteracy, poor health.
The eight-point MGD among others targets promotion of gender equality and women empowerment, reducing child mortality, improve maternal health, combating HIV/AIDS and environmental sustainability. India has an opportunity to become a leader in sustainable development. It has achieved the poverty reduction target, but the progress is uneven, said the report.
Shamshad Akhtar, UN Under Secretary General and Executive Secretary UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and Pacific (ESCAP), said, “India has made a great progress on MGDs, but there is no room for complacency, because there are gaps relative to the goals and targets. There are enough opportunities and there is a lot of scope to catch up, and it is critical that by the end of the year when the MGD expires, we really accelerate momentum during this year so that we start the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) agenda.”
