Unmasking Vulnerability: The Rationale and Effectiveness of Poverty Assessment Tool in Ultra-poor Graduation Approach

The United Nations defines poverty as a “denial of choices and opportunities, a violation of human dignity….a lack of basic capacity to participate effectively in society.” This complex and multi-dimensional nature of poverty has led to the rise of a variety of poverty estimations, especially in India where 11.28% of the population is considered multidimensionally poor. Though estimates like the National Poverty Line (based on NSSO data) enable a headcount of people experiencing poverty and the National Multidimensional Poverty Index by Niti Aayog offers a wider view by incorporating themes like education, health, and standard of living, these tools still need to address the full extent of vulnerability and social exclusion.

The need for a holistic approach: Introduction to the Poverty Assessment Tool?

Identifying the poorest of the poor needs a comprehensive consideration of all their deprivations and multifaceted vulnerabilities. Against this backdrop, the Poverty Assessment Tool (PAT) emerges as a viable alternative and an essential tool for selecting ultra-poor households in the Graduation Approach intervention. The PAT is a household-level assessment tool that provides a poverty score based on pre-defined criteria and an essential tool that requires careful and deliberate design and execution for selecting ultra-poor households in the Graduation Approach. The Graduation Approach developed by BRAC in 2002 is a ‘big push’, sequenced and multi-faceted intervention to help households transition out of the trap of ultra-poverty and attain a higher standard of living. It is structured around four pillars: social and livelihood protection, financial inclusion, and social empowerment.??

Design and standardization of PAT:?

PAT is inspired by various international and national poverty assessment standards and designed effectively to capture vulnerabilities through standardisations. It captures homogeneous and uniform conditions of vulnerabilities across regions. For instance, PAT has taken a cue from international standards like the Global Multidimensional Poverty Index and Sustainable Development Goal-1.? While it has integrated themes like education, housing, and nutrition from the Global Multidimensional Poverty Index, it has incorporated aspects like disability and land ownership from SDG-1.? Similarly, PAT has drawn respectively on the Socio-Economic Caste Census and Poverty Probability Index in absorbing vulnerabilities, like Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups, housing, women-headed households, and productive assets.??

PAT in practice - Ultra Poor Graduation Approach in Jharkhand (UPAJ):

UPAJ is a special project implemented by the Jharkhand State Livelihood Promotion Society (JSLPS)? in partnership with The/Nudge Institute. The program targets ultra-poor households and integrates the Graduation Approach with community institutions promoted by Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM). UPAJ has used a robust multi-step selection process in Jharkhand with? Participatory Wealth Ranking where households in a community are categorised based on wealth followed by a Poverty Assessment Tool to identify the ultra-poor households.

Tailoring for context:

PAT is also tailored to capture context-specific vulnerabilities in Jharkhand. PAT indicators are contextualized to the socio-economic milieu through a participatory process that involves extensive stakeholder consultations with Community-Based Organizations (CBOs) like Cluster-Level Federations facilitated by JSLPS. For instance, PAT takes into account contextual vulnerabilities like being victimised for practising witchcraft, distress migration, becoming trapped in debt etc. ? The emphasis on cultivable land ownership, instead of total land ownership in PAT, reflects the ground reality of Jharkhand, wherein the ultra-poor population has access to relatively more significant plots of forest land, which is not necessarily used for cultivation.?????

From concept to effectiveness:

However well-designed and conceptualized a poverty assessment tool is, its effectiveness depends on various factors. Without contextual training for Community Resource Persons (CRPs), close monitoring of the effectiveness of the intervention, periodic assessments and the PAT administration process verification, the true potential of PAT cannot be realised. Better demonstration of guidelines through case studies, clarity of definitions, and field pilots could enhance the effectiveness of the process. ? ?

REFERENCE -

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6. Earlier referred to as Bangladesh Rehabilitation Assistance Committee and latterly as the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee, BRAC’s operations have grown globally and with that growth, the organization changed to be known simply as BRAC. It was set up in 1972.
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9. Sustainable Development Goals, United Nations https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal1
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11. ?https://www.povertyindex.org/
12. Community Resource Persons are members of the community who are trained in community mobilization