Mr. President,

We welcome the reports of the Secretary-General on this agenda item. India associates itself with the statement delivered by Ecuador on behalf of the Group of 77.

Mr. President,

2. There has been very substantial progress in lifting people out of poverty in recent years across the world. However, large scale chronic poverty continues to be the greatest challenge for humanity. 

3. There are significant differences in the scale of absolute poverty that exists in societies across the world. The inequality both among and within nations is stark and the disparity continues to grow. 

4. In an inter-connected world, the consequences of poverty are no longer limited to only some parts of the world but have much wider impacts through civil unrest, armed conflicts, and large scale movements of people. 

Mr. President,

5. We welcome the focus of both the Secretary General and the President of the General Assembly on the 'people' and sustaining peace that is based on long term investment in sustainable development that eradicates poverty. 

6. This fundamental understanding that in an interdependent world long term peace and prosperity can only be collective, not only within a society or a nation but even among nations, is the basis for the 2030 Agenda that all of us adopted in 2015. Poverty eradication, is therefore, core objective of the 2030 Agenda. The SDG 17 encapsulates our collective responsibility to work together in achieving sustainable development. 

Mr. President,

7. Poverty is borne out of and sustained by multiple, often interlinked causes. At an individual or group level, the reasons could include, among others, lack of access to productive employment arising out of a lack of basic education, marketable skills and qualifications; disability/poor health; lack of access to basic services; and social discrimination. 

8. At the level of nations, structural economic problems arising out of historical colonial contexts; lack of natural resources and connectivity; natural disasters; chronic conflict situations; lack of social protection or minimum wage structures; unsustainable debt burden; unfair terms of trade and investment; and policy choices sometimes imposed externally, all contribute to poverty among populations.  

9. While the complex causes of poverty are often widely understood, the problem persists. 

Mr. President,

10. One sixth of global population resides in India. The significance of the successes in India in lifting people out of poverty for the achievement of global goals is well recognized.  In July this year we presented our Voluntary National Review here at the UN, sharing our experience as we move decisively towards the achievement of the SDGs. 

11. Gaining independence seven decades ago, India has worked hard to overcome the scourge of widespread poverty through sustained policies designed for the welfare of its people and to serve national rather than colonial interests. 

12. Early gains included self sufficiency in food production, vastly improved access to basic and higher education, affordable healthcare, diversified economic growth, and social reform including positive discrimination where necessary. In the last one decade and more, India has emerged as one the fastest growing large economies, even as the global economy has slowed.   

13. These efforts have further intensified in recent years. The focus of government's policies and programmes is on rapid and inclusive economic growth and targeted poverty alleviation through innovative schemes and effective delivery by empowering the poor. 

14. Prime Minister Modi has stressed the importance of Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas, meaning Together with All, Development for All. 

15. Significant progress is being made in achieving financial inclusion, especially of the poor, marginalized and vulnerable sections of population. Digital technology is being deployed to tackle the scale of challenge and multiply gains in efficiency and effectiveness. More than one billion Indians have now been issued biometric-based unique identity cards. More than 300 million bank accounts have been opened for the poor and marginalized. Linked with access to smartphones these initiatives are bringing about a financial inclusion transformation. The scheme is popularly known as J-A-M, signifying the linkage of Jan Dhan or financial inclusion, Aadhar identity cards and Mobile phones. 

16. This is enabling easy and affordable access to direct benefit transfers, banking and financial services, credit and insurance, pensions and remittances to poor and vulnerable sections of society and those living in remote areas. This is plugging leakages and making the system vastly more transparent through the use of technology. Most of these programmes have a special focus on empowering women. Specialised schemes focus on educating the girl child - Beti Bachao Beti Padhao - and to provide online marketing platform for women entrepreneurs - Mahila Haat. 

17. Special attention is being given to improve agricultural productivity and sustainable farming practices and farmers' income. Crop insurance and credit are being facilitated. ICT is enabling for linking markets for agricultural produce, through a National Agriculture Market Dashboard called e-NAM. Geographical Information Management systems are being deployed for improved information about water, crop inventory, other natural resource availability, and early warning for natural disasters etc.

18. Large scale infrastructure projects to improve connectivity within the large landmass of India through highways, railways, waterways, and aviation are being implemented. Hundreds of ports and airports are being upgraded to boost trade and bring economic activity to previously remote and unconnected areas. 

19. Major efforts are underway to boost investment in the manufacturing sector to help create jobs and build economic competitiveness through innovation and technology use through Make in India programme. Increasing emphasis is laid upon imparting appropriate vocational skills that would help people in finding employment opportunities through the Skill India initiative. Various reforms are being implemented to help business environment and better harmonise rules and regulations and taxation across the country, which would further improve efficiencies, reduce cost of doing business and catalyze economic activities.

20. Equally ambitious efforts are underway and yielding results in achieving an energy transition in the country through extensive deployment of solar and wind energy. The scale of these efforts has brought down the unit prices for renewable energy making it cost effective. Rural electrification is improving lives of people and providing them economic opportunities. The renewable energy sector is creating a large number of new jobs, including in remote areas. 

21. ICT tools are also being used for improving the access and quality of education and availability of basic healthcare services such as universal immunisation. Ambitious efforts are underway to improve access to clean drinking water and sanitation and cleaning of rivers. 

22. The Government is committed to provide affordable housing for all, in addition to building 'smart' cities. Programmes to provide affordable access to food and nutrition through public distribution system and midday meal schemes for children, and Rural Employment generation are underway. 

Mr. President, 

23. Even as India intensifies efforts to build a more prosperous and inclusive society with limited resources, we are further stepping up our development partnership efforts with fellow developing countries in our common quest for a better future for our peoples. A few weeks back, our External Affairs Minister in her address to the General Assembly spoke about the India-UN Development Partnership Fund established earlier this year as another avenue of our south-south cooperation efforts.

24. The continuing debate around the Financing for Development and the democratic reforms of the global governance institutions, especially here at the United Nations, betrays an old mindset and a lack of understanding and commitment to the spirit of partnership required to tackle global challenges.

25. The adoption of 2030 Agenda has been a remarkable success for spirit of multilateralism behind why we all gather here at the United Nations. The SDG 17, like the MDG 7 earlier, recognize the scale of challenges and the uneven availability of resources to meet them, both of which have myriad of historical and other reasons. They enjoin us to enter into genuine global partnerships in our collective interest. 

26. We hope that the international community will work together in meeting the challenge of poverty eradication and sustainable development. 

Thank you Mr. President.