Nepal Reducing Poverty Faster Than India, Says Oxford Study

London: Nepal and Bangladesh are reducing poverty faster compared to India, according to a new study based on the multidimensional poverty index developed at the University of Oxford and used by the UN Development Programme (UNDP) in its Human Development Reports.

India also made significant progress in reducing poverty between 1999 and 2006, but at a rate that was less than one-third of the speed of its poorer neighbours, with a reduction in poverty rates of 1.2 percentage points per year [instead of 4.1 percent (Nepal) or 3.2 percent (Bangladesh)], the study found.

However, multidimensional poverty was reduced least in the poorest states - such as Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal - and among the poorest social groups, such as Scheduled Tribes, Muslims, female-headed households and larger households.

According to the study, even India's best-performing states - Kerala and Andhra Pradesh - progressed little more than half as fast as Nepal or Bangladesh in reducing multidimensional poverty, a release from the Oxford Poverty and Human development Initiative (OPHI), which conducted the study, said.

"The success of Nepal and Bangladesh in reducing poverty despite their relatively low income highlights the effectiveness of social policy investments combined with active civil society engagement," said Dr Sabina Alkire, director of OPHI.

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