Research project
Guiding an NGO (Calcutta Rescue) to effective poverty targeting and poverty monitoring in Kolkata slums from a multidimensional perspective
- Start date: 1 January 2015
- End date: 30 December 2030
- Principal investigator: Dr Suman Seth
- Co-investigators: Dr Esther Sulkers, University of Groningen and Dr Marcello Scopazzini, NHS
- Postgraduate researchers: Subharthi Pradhan, Nabagram Hiralal Paul College, India
Description
Poverty in India manifests in different ways, across different regions, such as in rural areas and in urban slums, and across castes and religious groups. In 2020, almost half of the population in urban India lived in slums or informal settlements. This project seeks to assess and monitor poverty and the standard of living in urban slums, using a multidimensional poverty measurement tool.
Research overview
The research team guided Calcutta Rescue (CR), a mid-sized NGO in Kolkata, to develop a multidimensional poverty measurement tool (CR-MPI) for effective poverty targeting and poverty monitoring. For more information about how CR-MPI has been used during 2019-2024, visit the website.
Key findings
Based on the poverty measurement tools, multidimensional poverty in slums, where Calcutta Rescue provided services during 2019-2014, is seen to have fallen, with the proportion of multidimensionally poor residents decreasing from 70.3% in 2019 to 53.5% in 2024, by 16.8 percentage points.
Impact
This project was successful in highlighting the slum areas and dimensions/indicators of poverty that required urgent intervention, allowing Calcutta Rescue to address these issues and ultimately see a decrease in multidimensional poverty.
From this, a policy brief was developed, that highlights the importance of using a multidimensional measurement tool to guide future interventions and resource allocation, and states how essential it is to involve the target population to ensure interventions properly reflect priorities.
Outputs
- A report and policy brief have been produced, available on the external project website. (June 2026)
- “Applying a Multidimensional Poverty Index for targeted interventions in Kolkata’s slums” – blog post summary of the project and findings, Research and Innovation Blog. (June 2026)
Contact
This project received funding from Leeds University Business School’s Impact and Engagement Support Fund.