Gates Foundation: Alleviating Poverty In India
A test piece written for The Borgen Project on the Gates Foundation's efforts in alleviating poverty in India.
Gates Foundation: Alleviating Poverty In India
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, in collaboration with the Indian government, are helping to introduce more efficient, digitised financial models in aid of the economically weaker Indian households.
India has seen a monumental decrease in the number of its citizens living in poverty in recent years, but there is still work to be done. As of 2022 - roughly 6% of India’s population (over 83 million) are still living below the poverty line (currently at $1.90 per person, per day) which, for a country with the world’s fifth largest economy, is still a way off where it ought to be.
Many impoverished Indians still rely on informal financial methods such as cash storage and money lenders. Not only are these methods insecure, they’re often expensive and inconvenient; with recent statistics stating that over 80% of Indian adults own bank accounts, it’s time that all Indians have access to all the aid there is to offer.
India is one of the first countries in the world to introduce an inclusive, widespread, fraud preventative digital finance ecosystem. With the Gates Foundation and the Indian government helping to introduce new ways to pay, save, build credit and verify identity, it is hoped that one day, all of India will have access to these services.
So what part does The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation actually play in Indias vision of digital financial inclusion? The foundation discusses with Indias government, best practices on how to provide and maintain a digital infrastructure, as well as providing contextual monitoring, evaluation and research.
The Gates Foundation has also supported the Indian government and financial service providers in a number of key areas:
- Supporting the central government’s efforts to ensure that states were prepared to implement the Digital Benefit Transfer (DBT) program
- Supporting NITI Aayog in identifying and addressing challenges with digital financial services in 27 aspirational districts where focused interventions were implemented
- Supporting the Centre for Digital Financial Inclusion (CDFI) in developing a platform for delivering welfare payments to 7.3 million lactating mothers
- Conducting research and surveys on multiple aspects of the implementation of digital financial services, to help providers tailor products and offerings
[https://www.gatesfoundation.org/our-work/places/india/financial-services-for-the-poor#:~:text=We%20support%20efforts%20by%20the,the%20needs%20of%20these%20households.] - Accessed on 15/08/22
With India making great progress in it’s efforts to alleviate poverty, thanks, in part, to The Gates Foundation and the work they have done with the Indian government, for the Indian people - progress is being made, but the fight against poverty still continues.
