India land of abject poverty

[Omar1984]

‘Over 94 percent of India's poor Muslims don’t get subsidised food grains’

New Delhi, Sep 5 (IANS) Most of the poor among India’s 138 million Muslims do not get subsidised food grains in rural India, says Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH), one of the leading organisations working for the welfare of the community.”94.9 percent of Muslims living below the poverty line (BPL) in rural areas do not receive free food grains, and only 3.2 percent get subsidised loans,” JIH has said in a recent document called Vision-2016.

The document is a roadmap for educational, economic, and social emancipation of Muslims, India’s largest minority community.

It says that only “1.9 percent of the community benefits from the programmes meant for preventing starvation among the poorest of poor”, while “60 percent of Muslims do not have any land in rural areas”.

“The socio-economic and educational plight of Muslims continues to be abject. Although several schemes have been started to uplift them, they have still miles to go,” K.A. Siddiq Hassan, JIH’s vice-president, told IANS.

As per the JIH’s own assessment based on the government statistics and field surveys, only 2.1 percent of all Muslim farmers own tractors.

India gives highly subsidised food grains to over 10 million poorest families every year under the Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY), a scheme to provide food security to the poor.

The buyers pay Rs.2 for a kg of wheat and Rs.3 for a kg of rice. A BPL family is entitled to get 35 kg of food grains under the AAY scheme per month.

In India around 22 percent of people live below the poverty line (BPL). As defined by the government, this means their monthly income is less than Rs.296 in urban areas, Rs.276 in villages (44 rupees=1 dollar).

Abu Baker, former chairman of the Delhi Minorities Commission, told IANS: “The backwardness among Muslims is an accepted thing. It is deep and wide, and effective efforts are needed to improvise the community socially, economically and educationally.”

Former Supreme Court judge Rajinder Sachar, who submitted his report on the condition of minorities in November 2006, had brought out the widespread illiteracy and poverty among Muslims.

The committee said 25 percent of Muslim children in the age group of 6-14 years have either never attended school or have dropped out. In the premier colleges only one out of 25 undergraduate students and one out of 50 postgraduate students are Muslims.

“The need of the hour is to take the benefits of affirmative measures to the people on the margins. Despite the government’s best intentions, benefits of welfare schemes are not percolating to them,” said Baker, a retired professor of education in Delhi’s Jamia Milia Islamia.

Ash Narain Roy of the Delhi-based Institute of Social Sciences said: “The government initiatives need be supplemented by voluntary efforts to upgrade the overall status of Muslims.

“It is progressive of JIH not to exclude poor non-Muslims from the ambit of its plans. It is a positive development.”

‘Over 94 percent poor Muslims don’t get subsidised food grains’

 

[Omar1984]

Muslims -- India's new 'untouchables'

The condition of the country's Muslims has deteriorated, and the world has overlooked the nation's problems.

The news of the attacks in Mumbai eerily took me back to a quiet morning two years ago when I sat in Room 721 of the Taj Mahal Palace & Tower hotel, reading the morning newspaper, fearing just the kind of violence that has now exploded in the city of my birth. The headlines recounted how the socioeconomic condition of the people of my ancestry, Muslims in India, had fallen below that of the Hindu caste traditionally called "untouchables," according to a government report.

"Muslims are India's new untouchables," I said sadly to my mother, in the room with me. "India is going to explode if it doesn't take care of them." Now, indeed, alas it has. And shattered in the process is the myth of India's thriving secular democracy.

Mumbai police said over the weekend that the only gunman they'd captured during the attacks -- which left nearly 200 dead and more than 300 wounded -- claimed to belong to a Pakistani militant group. But even if the trouble was imported, the violence will most certainly turn a spotlight of suspicion on Muslims in India. Already, my relatives are hunkered down for a sectarian backlash they expect from anti-terrorism agencies, police and angry Hindu fundamentalists.

India, long championed as a model of pluralism, used to be an example of how Muslims can coexist and thrive even as a minority population. My extended family prospered as part of an educated, middle class. My parents, who settled in the United States in the 1960s when my father pursued a doctorate at Rutgers University, were part of India's successful diaspora. I love India, and on that trip, I wanted to show it off to my son, Shibli, then age 4.

But on that visit, across India from Mumbai to the southern state of Tamil Nadu and north to Lucknow, the hub of Muslim culture, I was deeply saddened. Talking to vegetable vendors, artisans and businessmen, I heard about how the condition of Muslims had deteriorated. They had become largely disenfranchised, poor, jobless and uneducated. Their tales echoed those I'd heard on previous trips, when my extended family recounted their humiliating experiences with bureaucratic, housing, job and educational discrimination.

Indeed, the government report I read about in the newspapers two years ago acknowledged that Muslims in India had become "backward." "Fearing for their security," the report said, "Muslims are increasingly resorting to living in ghettos around the country." Branding of Muslims as anti-national, terrorists and agents of Pakistan "has a depressing effect on their psyche," the report said, noting Muslims live in "a sense of despair and suspicion."

According to the report, produced by a committee led by a former Indian chief justice, Rajender Sachar, Muslims were now worse off than the Dalit caste, or those called untouchables. Some 52% of Muslim men were unemployed, compared with 47% of Dalit men. Among Muslim women, 91% were unemployed, compared with 77% of Dalit women. Almost half of Muslims over the age of 46 couldn't read or write. While making up 11% of the population, Muslims accounted for 40% of India's prison population. Meanwhile, they held less than 5% of government jobs.

The Sachar committee report recommended creating a commission to remedy the systemic discrimination and promote affirmative-action programs. So far, very few of the recommendations have been put in place.

Since reading the report, I have feared that Islamic militancy would be born out of such despair. Even if last week's terrorist plot was hatched outside India, a cycle of sectarian violence could break out in the country and push some disenfranchised Muslim youth to join militant groups using hot-button issues like Israel and Kashmir as inspiration.

What has irked me these last years is how the world has glossed over India's problems. In 2006, for instance, former U.S. Defense Secretary William Cohen, whose Cohen Group invests heavily in India, said the U.S. and India were "perfect partners" because of their "multiethnic and secular democracies." When I asked to interview Cohen about the socioeconomic condition of Muslims, his public relations staffer said that conversation was too "in the weeds." But, to me, the condition of Muslims needs frank and open discussion if there is to be any hope of stemming Islamic radicalism and realizing true secular democracy in the country.

India's 150 million Muslims represent the second-largest Muslim population in the world, smaller only than Indonesia's 190 million Muslims. That is just bigger than Pakistan's 140 million Muslims or the entire population of Arab Muslims, which numbers about 140 million. U.S. intelligence reports continually warn that economic, social and political discontent are catalysts for radicalism, so we would be naive to continue to ignore this potential threat to the national security of not just India but the United States.

Throughout my 2006 journey, I found the idea of India's potential for danger unavoidable. On one leg, my son tucked safely in bed with my mother in our Taj hotel room, I went out to watch the filming of "A Mighty Heart," the movie about the murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl by Muslim militants in Pakistan. When the location scouts needed to replicate the treacherous streets of Karachi's militant Islamist culture, they didn't have to go far. They found the perfect spot in a poor Muslim neighborhood of Mumbai.

Asra Q. Nomani is the author of "Standing Alone: An American Woman's Struggle for the Soul of Islam."


2009, The Los Angeles Times

Muslims -- India's new 'untouchables' -- latimes.com

 

[Omar1984]

Muslims in India Battle Prejudice and Poverty

One hundred fifty boys are taking an afternoon break at the Darul Quran Madrasa Azmatia in central Calcutta. This Muslim religious school is located close to the city’s largest mosque Nakhoda Masjid, which can accommodate 10,000 worshippers.

Imam Qari Fazlur Rahman says the poor families from all over India send their boys here. “This institution, the name is Darul Quran Madrasa Azmatia, is a hundred years old and the teaching of Koran takes place over here,” he says. “Hundreds of students have been studying here. They get food and board and everything is run on charity.”


Muslim boys study at the Darul Quran Madrassa Azmatia in Calcutta.

The imam says the number of students and worshippers has grown significantly in the past few years. “Two aspects: one is the population is growing,” he says. “Also people are bending towards religion. People like to see that their children learn the Koran and the Koranic teachings and the practices followed by Prophet Mohammed.”

Although India’s constitution guarantees children’s education in their mother tongue, speakers of other languages often complain that Hindi, India’s official language spoken by the Hindu majority, is enforced at schools throughout the country. Calcutta’s Muslims speak mostly Bengali, the language of the state of West Bengal. A smaller percentage who speak Urdu may be especially disadvantaged. A growing number of Muslim community activists are fighting to change that.

Topsia and Tiljala are mostly Muslim areas on the eastern outskirts of Calcutta. These crumbling ghettos, crisscrossed by narrow lanes, clogged with vendors and traffic are suffocating in the fumes from tanneries and rubber factories tucked in among the crowded dwellings. Life in these bistis, as they are called, is somewhat better then in the nearby slums lining the putrid canals carrying the city sewage. Calcutta’s businessman Shahanshah Jehangir says it was much worse when he first visited the area.

“It so happened,” he says, “that one of my classmates who had a house in Topsia in the heart of the slum area invited me to his sister’s wedding. And it was the first time I went there in 1965, I still remember. I went to attend the marriage (celebration). There was a greenish area so I walked into it. It looked so green that I thought I walked into a field of grass. Actually, I got soaked with all the dirty water and somehow they pulled me out and that time I took a vow that if ever I could do something, I would come back to this area and try to develop it because people needed it.”


Topsia and Tiljala are mostly Muslim slums on the outskirts of Calcutta.

Mr. Jehangir did not forget his vow. In 1968, he formed the Bengal Service Society dedicated to improving the lives of slum people, especially the children. Since then his organization has helped open a hospital and a school in Topsia and secure medical services, drinking water and other basic services for the community. Mr. Jehangir says his group is also actively working to suppress religious and ethic divisions.

“I found there was a certain section of people in our society,” he says, “always trying to exploit the religious sentiment among the poor. So we stopped all this. I brought all the children, from the Hindu boys, the Muslim boys to the Christian boys and made them sit at one table, eat together and study together and that feeling of brotherhood made me happy. After that there was no ill feeling between the castes and the religious communities there.”


Ayaz Ahmed has a small embroidery business. He is also a Muslim community activist and an interpreter fluent in 4 languages.

Calcutta’s poor may not be divided, but the majority are Muslim. Instead of sending the children to school, many families at Topsia and Tiljala send them to work, says interpreter and Muslim community activist Ayaz Ahmed.

“The Muslims over here are mainly illiterate,” he says. “Most of the population is illiterate. They are uneducated and they are lowly employed.”

Still, many parents here understand the value of education. One mother says: “We want the development at the school and we want advanced education, including computers and other things to be installed at this school.”

The interpreter Mr. Ahmed says: “All of them want to get their children educated, not only in computer science but in all fields. They also want vocational training to be imparted so that the child who gets education can be self-sufficient and independent for his livelihood.”


Many children from the Topsia and Tiljala slums have to work to help support their families. They say they prefer going to school and most are interested in becoming doctors and teachers.

These mothers have met at a Topsia public school to form a parent committee to help run the school attended by about 300 children. In 1997, an amendment to the Indian constitution amendment made education for children aged 6 to 14 free and compulsory. But the population explosion has made it impossible either to enforce the law or to make sure there are enough schools for all the children. Ayaz Ahmed cites another problem.

“Actually, the government over here and the system is so much corrupt,” he says, “from top to bottom, that it is the main hurdle towards development.”

About 13% of India’s one-billion population is Muslim, yet they account for only 3% of government employees. In the cities, where one-third of them live, 30% are illiterate in comparison with 19% illiterate Hindus. India’s Muslims are also more likely than Hindus to be victims of violent attacks. In all the communal riots since independence, police records indicate that three-quarters of the lives lost and properties destroyed are Muslim. The situation is somewhat better in the state of West Bengal, which is headed by a secular government.

Nesar Waris is joint secretary of the West Bengal Human Rights Commission. “Our system of government is a democratic one,” he says. “In West Bengal, I must say that we (the Muslims) have a good representation in the state assembly. In West Bengal we are living in peaceful conditions. In other states there is less peace than in Bengal. Some people say, and I don’t corroborate their view, it is because there is a CPM government over here, a Communist, Marxist government is here. So they don’t like communalism (sectarian divisions), whether it is economic communalism or educational communalism or religious communalism. But we find that religious communalism is avoided here and other communalism still exists.”

Although officially condemned, communalism or sectarian discrimination and segregation is a fact of life throughout most of India. A number of non-governmental groups are engaged in fighting it. The Institute of Objective Studies has published numerous booklets and studies on Islamic traditions, philosophy and culture.

Calcutta-based anthropologist M.K.A. Siddiqui, who wrote many of them, says they are aimed at dispelling negative stereotypes about India's Muslims. “We work with Hindus,” he says. “We supply our books to them and of course it has its impact. Of late reviews have come praising our work. But a large segment of the media is infected by communal feelings because of political interest again.”

Many Indians, Muslim and non-Muslim blame politicians, especially the ruling party, for stirring sectarian passions.

Parwez Hafeez is Calcutta bureau chief of the daily paper The Asian Age. “For instance, they started distributing stickers and leaflets saying: ‘Say proudly that we are Hindus,’” he says. “And then we also saw that in Muslim areas. They started fixing similar posters: ‘Say proudly that we are Muslims.’ If politicians stopped manipulating people’s sentiments, I can guarantee this that Indians will stop fighting among themselves.”


Muslim mothers in the Topsia school meet to form a committee. They want the kind of education that would enable their children to find sustainable jobs.

In the Muslim area on the eastern outskirts of Calcutta, tanneries and rubber factories alternate with crowded dwellings.


Current political leadership in West Bengal has largely refrained from using religion for political gain. Muslims say that is good for them and for India, too.


Muslims in India Battle Prejudice and Poverty - 2003-09-08

 

[dabong1]

So according to you....

Seeking loan is called begging...I never heard of a loan on which you pay interest .....classified as Donation.


This is what you are talking about.....

India gets $185 mn ADB loan for road projects - Economy and Politics - livemint.com

China objected to ADB loan to India for Arunachal project: Krishna
Chinese Objected ...But failed ..India did get loan...and I repeat ...LOAN....not Donation....by any friends of India Club member Country...


Learn People.....Loan - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

So when india gets money its a "loan" but its a "donation" when it comes to money is not going to india?

 

[dabong1]

wow a 2800+ post's old troll.....

I love it when you indian start crying as soon as wordplay is used against you..

 

[Omar1984]

Why do Indian Muslims lag behind?

By Soutik Biswas
BBC News
Muslims make up India's largest religious minority

As historians tell it, during India's first election in 1952, Jawaharlal Nehru was already worrying about the feeble representation of Muslims in the country's positions of authority.

Many more Muslims had stayed back in India than the millions who migrated to newly-born Pakistan after the partition just five years before.

India's first prime minister's concerns about the country's second largest religious group and the largest religious minority were eminently justified.


See a map of the area
"There were hardly any Muslims left in the defence service, and not many in the secretariat," says historian Ramachandra Guha.

Little change

Next year, in 1953, a group of intellectuals met to discuss forming a political party for the Muslims and spoke about the low representation of Muslims in political positions and bureaucracy.

More than half century later, on India's 60th anniversary of independence, very little has changed.

(Indian Muslims) carry a double burden of being labelled as 'anti-national' and as being 'appeased' at the same time


Staying behind in India

Today, at over 138 million, Muslims constitute over 13% of India 's billion-strong population, and in sheer numbers are exceeded only by Indonesia's and Pakistan's Muslim community.

The country has had three Muslim presidents - a largely ceremonial role. Bollywood and cricket, two secular pan-Indian obsessions, continue to have their fair share of Muslim stars - the ruling heroes in Mumbai films are Shah Rukh, Aamir and Salman Khan, and the star of India's current English cricket tour is pace bowler Zaheer Khan. Not long ago, the national team was led by the stylish Mohammed Azharuddin.

That's where the good news essentially ends.


Muslims are a 'vulnerable' community
Muslims comprise only 5% of employees in India's big government, a recent study found. The figure for Indian Railways, the country's biggest employer, is only 4.5%.

The community continues to have a paltry representation in the bureaucracy and police - 3% in the powerful Indian Civil Service, 1.8% in foreign service and only 4% in the Indian Police Service. And Muslims account for only 7.8% of the people working in the judiciary.

Indian Muslims are also largely illiterate and poor.

At just under 60%, the community's literacy rate is lower than the national average of 65%. Only half of Muslim women can read and write. As many as a quarter of Muslim children in the age-group 6-14 have either never attended school or dropped out.

They are also poor - 31% of Muslims are below the country's poverty line, just a notch above the lowest castes and tribes who remain the poorest of the poor.

Identity card

To add to the community's woes are myriad problems relating to, as one expert says, "identity, security and equity".

"They carry a double burden of being labelled as 'anti-national' and as being 'appeased' at the same time," says a recent report on the state of Indian Muslims.

Historians say it is ironic that many Indians bought the Hindu nationalist bogey of 'Muslim appeasement' when it had not translated into any major socio-economic gain for the community.

So why has the lot of Indian Muslims remained miserable after six decades of independence?


Half of Muslim women in India cannot read or write
For one, it is the sheer apathy and ineptitude of the Indian state which has failed to provide equality of opportunity in health, education and employment.

This has hurt the poor - including the Muslim poor who comprise the majority of the community - most.

There is also the relatively recent trend of political bias against the community when Hindu nationalist governments have ruled in Delhi and the states.

Also, the lack of credible middle class leadership among the Muslims has hobbled the community's vision and progress.

Consequently, rabble rousers claiming to represent the community have thrust themselves to the fore.

To be true, mass migration during partition robbed the community of potential leaders - most Muslim civil servants, teachers, doctors and professionals crossed over.

But the failure to throw up credible leaders has meant low community participation in the political processes and government - of the 543 MPs in India's lower house of parliament, only 36 are Muslims.

Also, as Ramachandra Guha says, the "vicissitudes of India-Pakistan relations and Pakistan's treatment of its minorities" ensured that Muslims remained a "vulnerable" community.

Regional disparities

The plight of Indian Muslims also has a lot to do with the appalling quality of governance, unequal social order and lack of equality of opportunity in northern India where most of the community lives.

Populous Uttar Pradesh is home to nearly a fifth of Muslims (31 million) living in India, while Bihar has more than 10 million community members.


Shah Rukh Khan is the biggest Bollywood star
"Southern India is a different picture. Larger cultural and social movements have made education more accessible and self employment more lucrative benefiting a large number of Muslims," says historian Mahesh Rangarajan.

In Andhra Pradesh state, for example, 68% of Muslims are literate, higher than the state and national average. School enrolment rates for Muslim children are above 90% in Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

Mahesh Rangarajan says poverty and "absence of ameliorative policies" has hurt India's Muslims most.

If India was to be "a secular, stable and strong state," Nehru once said, "then our first consideration must be to give absolute fair play to our minority".

BBC NEWS | South Asia | Why do Indian Muslims lag behind?

 

[idune]

Over 3,500 farmers committed suicide in Orissa in 11 years
PTISaturday, November 21, 2009 20:50 IST Email

Bhubaneswar: As many as 3,509 farmers have committed suicide in Orissa in the past 11 years, the state government said today.

Replying to an adjournment motion on unabated suicide of farmers in the state, agriculture minister Damodar Rout said in the assembly that social factors were mostly the reasons for such extreme steps. All farmers did not commit suicide due to crop loss, he said.

The highest number of 418 farmers committed suicide in 1998, Rout said, adding that suicide among farmers was less than that of other sections of the society.

"A total of 48,631 people committed suicide in the state from 1997 to 2008. The number of farmer suicide was 3,509 during the period," Rout said.

Stating that 73% of the state's population earn their livelihood from cultivation, he said that most of the farmers committed suicide due to reasons like family disputes.

"This is a grave situation. Therefore, all members including those in the opposition should suggest measures to the government for the socio-economic development of the community (farmers)," Rout said.


"All the deaths are not due to crop loss but because of some other social reasons," he added. (IANS)

Over 3,500 farmers committed suicide in Orissa in 11 years - dnaindia.com

 

[SU-57E]

what to do now ....since our neighbors are churning out ambanis,tatas ,birlas, DLFs almost daily....and our farmers commit suicide......
am thinking to migrate to the geat land of golden opportunities BANGLADESH.. where each major company is trying to set up facilities...where there is no poverty...everybody is playing in wealth and prosperity ....really a great country....

 

[MilesTogo]

I say Pakistan should start a free visa program for Indian Muslims...

what to do now ....since our neighbors are churning out ambanis,tatas ,birlas, DLFs almost daily....and our farmers commit suicide......
am thinking to migrate to the geat land of golden opportunities BANGLADESH.. where each major company is trying to set up facilities...where there is no poverty...everybody is playing in wealth and prosperity ....really a great country....

 

[AliFarooq]

what to do now ....since our neighbors are churning out ambanis,tatas ,birlas, DLFs almost daily....and our farmers commit suicide......
am thinking to migrate to the geat land of golden opportunities BANGLADESH.. where each major company is trying to set up facilities...where there is no poverty...everybody is playing in wealth and prosperity ....really a great country....

We never said we wern't poor, we agree we are poor and don't shy away from it. We do what we can to help the farmers, so they don't have to resort to suiciding.

 

[Gin ka Pakistan]

I say Pakistan should start a free visa program for Indian Muslims...

More than 1.8 million illegal immigrants are reportedly living in Karachi and many of them are Indian Muslims who came here and after seeing good life never left
http://gulfnews.com/news/world/pakistan/karachi-illegals-to-be-given-legal-status-1.148587

 

[RiazHaq]

India, often described as peaceful, stable and prosperous in the Western media, remains home to the largest number of poor and hungry people in the world. About one-third of the world's poor people live in India. More than 450 million Indians exist on less than $1.25 a day, according to the World Bank. It also has a higher proportion of its population living on less than $2 per day than even sub-Saharan Africa. India has about 42% of the population living below the new international poverty line of $1.25 per day. The number of Indian poor also constitute 33% of the global poor, which is pegged at 1.4 billion people, according to a Times of India news report. More than 6 million of those desperately poor Indians live in Mumbai alone, representing about half the residents of the nation's financial capital. They live in super-sized slums and improvised housing juxtaposed with the shining new skyscrapers that symbolize India's resurgence. According to the World Bank and the UN Development Program (UNDP), 22% of Pakistan's population is classified as poor.

There is widespread hunger and malnutrition in all parts of India. India ranks 66th on the 2008 Global Hunger Index of 88 countries while Pakistan is slightly better at 61 and Bangladesh slightly worse at 70. The first India State Hunger Index (Ishi) report in 2008 found that Madhya Pradesh had the most severe level of hunger in India, comparable to Chad and Ethiopia. Four states — Punjab, Kerala, Haryana and Assam — fell in the 'serious' category. "Affluent" Gujarat, 13th on the Indian list is below Haiti, ranked 69. The authors said India's poor performance was primarily due to its relatively high levels of child malnutrition and under-nourishment resulting from calorie deficient diets.

Indian media's headlines about the newly-minted Indian billionaires need to bring sharper focus on the growing rich-poor gap in India. On its inside pages, The Times of India last year reported Communist Party leader Sitaram Yechury's as saying that "on the one hand, 36 Indian billionaires constituted 25% of India’s GDP while on the other, 70% of Indians had to do with Rs 20 a day". "A farmer commits suicide every 30 minutes. The gap between the two Indias is widening," he said.


Haq's Musings: Grinding Poverty in Resurgent India

 

[yuvabharat]

we accept that we are poor but u guys are no less than that and plz provide the link were u ppl are working to remove the poverty and plz dont point us without looking ur own (no offence)

 

[JohnyD]

Haq's Musings: Grinding Poverty in Resurgent India

you are posting something which was published in Jan 2009...

 

[Spitfighter]

you are posting something which was published in Jan 2009...

Let him, it doesn't change a thing.


Home » Nation
India lifts 59.7 mn people out of slum since 2000: UN
Updated on Friday, March 19, 2010, 14:56 IST Tags:Slum, Poverty, UN
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United Nations
: India and China have together lifted at least 125 million out of slums between 1990 and 2010, and improved the lives of slum dwellers more than any other country, a new UN report has said.

India has lifted 59.7 million people out of slum conditions since 2000. Slum prevalence fell from 41.5 percent in 1990 to 28.1 percent in 2010. This is a relative decrease of 32 percent, the study found, according to the report called State of the World’s Cities 2010/2011.

"Lessening poverty and improving conditions in slums are part of India's urban development policy," the report said, pointing out four main reasons for it.

First, building the skills of the urban poor in their chosen businesses, and by providing them micro-credit. Second, providing basic services and development within slum settlements, thus improving living conditions.

Third, providing security of tenure to poor families living in unauthorized settlements, improving their access to serviced low-cost housing and subsidized housing finance. Fourth, encouraging the poor to take part in decision-making and community development efforts.

China has made the greatest progress on this front with improvements to the daily conditions of 65.3 million urban residents, the report said.

Proportionally, China's urban population living in slums fell from 37.3 percent in 2000 to some 28 percent in 2010, a relative decrease of 25 percent.

"Despite growing inequality due to the country's rapid economic advance, China has improved living conditions by embracing economic reforms and implementing modernization policies that have used urbanisation to drive national growth," the report said.

Overall, the report finds that 227 million people in the world have moved out of slum conditions since 2000. At the same time, the study also stresses that 55 million new slum dwellers have been added to the global urban population since 2000.

"However, this achievement is not uniformly distributed across regions," said Anna Tibaijuka, head of the UN Human Settlements Programme.

"Success is highly skewed towards the more advanced emerging economies, while poorer countries have not done as well," she said.

Overall, the UN report finds that the number of people living in slums has risen from 777 million in 2000 to 830 million in 2010, and warns that unless urgent steps are taken the number could rise to 900 million in 2020.

PTI

India lifts 59.7 mn people out of slum since 2000: UN