We are in the midst of the Diwali celebrations—honouring and worshipping the Goddess Laxmi. In this time of wishing everyone prosperity, it is contrarily also a moment to think of poverty.
It is also timely because Oct 17 is marked as International Day for the Eradication of Poverty.
Poverty is a state of lacking sufficient money or material possessions to meet a minimum standard of living. It is “pronounced deprivation in well-being”. It is not just a lack of income but also a lack of access to basic necessities like food, clean water, shelter, healthcare, and education. It is a complex and multifaceted issue involving social, economic, and political elements.
The World Bank measures poverty primarily through an international poverty line. In June 2025, this line was updated to $3.00 per day (using 2021 purchasing power parity or PPP), replacing the previous $2.15 per day. A person is considered to be in extreme poverty if their income or consumption falls below this threshold. In India, this is approximately ₹62 per day.
Measurement of poverty is a complicated and often contentious affair. Poverty can be an absolute amount of money. It can also be tied to a specific type of consumption; for example, people could be house-poor or food-poor or health-poor. These dimensions of poverty often can be measured directly, for instance, by measuring malnutrition or literacy.
But the broadest approach to well-being (and poverty) focuses on the capability of the individual to function in society. Poverty is when people lack key capabilities; they may have inadequate income or education, or be in poor health, or feel powerless, or lack political empowerment.
In India, NITI Aayog has developed the National Multidimensional Poverty(MPI) Index, based on the global MPI framework. A person is identified as multidimensionally poor if they are deprived in at least one-third of the weighted indicators of which there are 12. These indicators are categorized into three dimensions which carry equal weights: health, education, and standard of living. Deprivation in any household member’s nutrition or the death of a child indicates health deprivation. Educational deprivation is measured by the lack of schooling years for those aged 10 and above or school non-attendance for school-aged children. Standard of living deprivations include using rudimentary cooking fuel, having inadequate sanitation or drinking water access, living in poorly constructed housing, lacking electricity, not owning essential assets, or not having a bank account.
Linked to poverty is inequality. Economic inequality is the unequal distribution of income and opportunity between different groups in society. It encompasses differences in income (pay) and wealth (total assets like property and stocks), and is measured using metrics like the Gini coefficient. Economic inequality includes Income Inequality, Wealth Inequality and Inequality of Opportunity.
Diwali is about caring and sharing. And it is about family. This year’s theme for the Poverty Eradication Day emphasizes ‘ensuring respect and effective support for families’. There could not be a happier coming together of intent, pointing the way for a truly Happy Diwali!
–Meena
Millennial Matriarchs 