Jharkhand lifts most people out of poverty; still remains among poorest states

Source: financialexpress.com

Eastern state Jharkhand has made the fastest leap in bringing down the number of poor among fellow Indian states and has reduced the incidence of multidimensional poverty from 74.9 per cent to 46.5 per cent in the decade ending in 2016, The Indian Express reported. Jharkhand showed the steepest decline in the poor populace which was once second only to Bihar’s in 2005-06. However, it still remains one of the poorest Indian states with more than half of India’s poor populace concentrated in Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, and Madhya Pradesh. 

In a report released by the UN Development Programme and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development, it was found that in India, the number of people living in multidimensional poverty went down to 369.55 million in 2015-16 from 690.55 million in 2005-06. This is a considerable reduction of 271 million people in a decade.

The multidimensional poverty index (MPI) takes into account a person’s deprivations across 10 indicators; hence becoming a comprehensive indicator that looks beyond income poverty. These indicators are — health, education, and standard of living — nutrition, child mortality, years of schooling, school attendance; access to cooking fuel, sanitation, drinking water; electricity and housing; and assets. 

In India, the MPI fell from 0.283 to 0.123 in a decade. India and Cambodia are the fastest in 10 selected countries which reduced their MPI’s the most. In fact, India has halved the number of people living in abject poverty from 55.1 per cent to 27.9 per cent in a decade. It has also brought down the intensity of deprivation from 51.1 per cent to 43.9 per cent, according to the global MPI report.

The report also said that India demonstrated “the clearest pro-poor pattern at the subnational level: the poorest regions reduced multidimensional poverty the fastest in absolute terms”. India is also among three countries where urban areas were outshined by rural areas in reducing poverty. 

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UPSC Civil Services Toppers: Gopala Krishna Ronanki overcame poverty, social apathy and cracked IAS 3rd Rank

Source: timesnownews.com

UPSC Civil Services is without doubt one of the toughest examinations to crack in this country. While lakhs aspire, it is only a few hundred who can make it through. And some stories leave an impression. Story of Shri Gopala Krishna Ronanki, a school teacher by profession, of overcoming poverty, difficulties in learning, social exclusion and then cracking UPSC Civil Services exam is one such story. No only did he fight the odds, he stood for his dreams and cracked the IAS or Civil Services Exam in 2016 and secured AIR Rank 3rd.

Hailing from a small village of Andhra Pradesh,  Gopala Krishna Ronanki had to face a lot of hardship to taste success. Gopal’s parents Apparav and Rukminamma were farmers in Parasamba village of Palasa Mandal, 70 km away from Srikakulam city. At a very early age, his parents were socially boycotted for 25 years due to their involvement in a Dalit family marriage. This caused a lot of hurdles in their lives, financially and mentally.

At one point of time, some wealthy people of the village wanted to grab the land that was owned by Gopala’s parents. They had to fight a long battle to save their piece of land. In midst of all these hardships, Ronanki completed his studies in Telegu medium from distance learning. After his Class 10, he completed his 12th studies from Palasa Junior College. Soon after plus two, Gopal took a teacher training course and started to work as a teacher in a government school.

While working as a teacher, Gopala completed his graduation and went on to prepare for UPSC Civil Services. He was discouraged by many of his friends who said that cracking UPSC Civil Services by studying in Telegu Medium is impossible.

Keeping all these negativity at bay Gopala attempted for UPSC Civil Services exam for the first time in 2015.  He was unable to crack the preliminary exam of it back then. It was in his second attempt when he cleared the UPSC Civil Services exam and secured AIR 3rd rank.

According to Gopala, all the problems that he had faced made him stronger and his determination harder. He aspires to help the Dalit section of the society in the near future.