India may fail to eradicate hunger by 2015: UNDP paper

New Delhi, June 7 (PTI) The global financial crisis may
keep India from achieving its goal of eradicating hunger by
2015 and other Millennium Development Goals, says a paper by
the UN Development Programme.

"As the full implications of the global financial crisis
unfold, questions are being raised on its impact on India's
human development and achievement of the MDGs," the UNDP India
Senior Assistant Country Director Seeta Prabhu said.

India is doing good by the government's definition of
poverty, but not as per the World Bank's estimates, Prabhu
said in a paper titled 'Global Financial Crisis: Impact on
India's Poor'.

"If the national poverty line is used as the definition,
the country is generally considered to be well on track to
reduce the headcount ratio of poverty, but not if the World
Bank's estimates of proportion of population below the newly
defined extreme poverty line of USD 1.25 per day is
considered," she said in her paper.

Besides, she said, irrespective of the poverty estimate
one uses, there is a distinct possibility that poverty levels
may be higher than expected in the next couple of years till
the economy resumes a faster growth path.

"Higher food prices would aggravate the situation and
push back further the possibility of India reaching the target
in Goal-I which aims at hunger eradication by 2015," she said.

With respect to Goal II the objective of achieving
universal primary enrollment is widely recognised as being
attainable with some effort. However, the other targets of
ensuring progress such as primary school completion rates and
adult literacy rates seem more challenging, Prabhu said.

As far as health related Goals IV and V are concerned,
the situation is not promising as the health outcomes of women
and children have deteriorated even during the period of rapid
economic progress, the report said.

"To expect an improvement in health outcomes when the
economic situation of many of the poor households is
deteriorating ... is unrealistic," she said, adding that
National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme could provide some
cushion in rural areas.

The MDGs, eight goals to be achieved by 2015 that respond
to the world's main development challenges, are drawn from the
Millennium Declaration adopted by 189 nations during the UN
Millennium Summit in 2000.

They are: eradicating extreme poverty and hunger,
achieving universal primary education, promoting gender
equality and empower women, reducing child mortality,
improving maternal health, combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and
other diseases, ensuring environmental sustainability, and
develop a global partnership for development. PTI MG
AM
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