The latest report on the progress made on Millennium Development Goals (MDG), a set of eight objectives considered essential in a push towards a more equitable world, says that globally the percentage of people living under $1.25 per day had fallen from 47 per cent in 1990 to 22 per cent in 2010. Halving the number of people living in abject poverty by 2015 was one of the key targets of the MDGs. This was to be achieved by 2015 but the UN report says the target has already been reached in 2010.

"By any measure, this is a stunning achievement," said Lise Grande, UN Resident Coordinator who is the overall head of all the UN agencies operating in

India.

The Millennium Development Goals Report 2013, that was released by R K Pachauri, co-chairman of the Nobel Prize winning Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change, says that there has been a substantial improvement in poverty reduction in India as well.

"...although poverty remains widespread in India, progress has been substantial. In India, the poverty rate fell from 49 per cent in 1994 to 42 per cent in 2005 and to 33 per cent in 2010. If the current pace continues, India will meet the poverty reduction targets (of halving the number of poor) by 2015," it says.

But like in many other areas, China has outperformed India. In China, the poverty figures have dropped from 60 per cent of the population in 1990 to 12 per cent in 2010.

The Planning Commission had last year said the pace of poverty reduction had accelerated in the recent years, and that the number of people below poverty line was declining by at least two percentage points per year.

Grande said of the 21 targets that were linked to the eight goals, from poverty reduction to halting the spread of HIV/AIDS to ensuring gender equality, "six of the most important" had either been met or were close to being met. These included access to drinking water, and the global fight against malaria.