RGMVP works in some of the poorest areas of Uttar Pradesh (UP), one of India’s most populous and impoverished states. According to the Planning Commission’s 61st National Sample Survey, “Estimates of poverty in 2004-05 show that Uttar Pradesh has the highest number of people below the poverty line. An estimated 44 percent of its 175 million population live below the poverty line, over 80 percent of who are in rural areas. UP alone accounts for 20 percent of the poor in India, and an estimated 9 percent of the poor worldwide. Not only does the State have a large absolute burden of income poverty, it ranks low among Indian states in other indicators of deprivation.” UP also performs poorly on several critical human development indicators:

UP vs. India vs. World: Performance in Key Health, Education and Women’s Development Indicators (2007)

Source: RHS Bulletin, March 2007, M/O Health & F.W., GOI, India-Stat; CIA Fact Book